- About Us
- Membership
- Practice
- Education
- Research
- Meetings
- Journal
- Newsletter
- Donate
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTION & ADDRESSVanderbilt University Medical Center SF MATCH PROGRAM ID#2882 FELLOWSHIP DIRECTORNaweed I. Chowdhury, MD, MPH FELLOWSHIP CO-DIRECTORSPaul Russell, MD COLLABORATING FACULTYNeurological Surgery: Lola B. Chambless, MD (Professor; George S. Allen Chair in Neurological Surgery); Peter J. Morone, MD, MSCI, MBA (Director, Neurosurgical Oncology and Skull Base Surgery); Patrick D. Kelly, MD, MSCI Allergy and Immunology: Katherine N. Cahill, MD (Section Chief of Allergy; Medical Director of Clinical Asthma Research) Oculoplastic and Orbital Surgery: Louise A. Mawn, MD (Fellowship Program Director, Oculofacial Plastic Surgery); Rachel K. Sobel, MD; Behin Barahimi, MD Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Scott J. Stephan, MD (Service Chief and Fellowship Director); Priyesh N. Patel, MD; Shiayin F. Yang, MD; Jordan Garcia, MD; Monica K. Rossi Meyer, MD Sleep Surgery: David T. Kent, MD (Associate Professor; Director of Sleep Surgery; Director of Translational Research) DEPARTMENTAL MISSION STATEMENTThe Vanderbilt Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery is committed to delivering exceptional, personalized care to patients with complex disorders of the ear, nose, throat, and skull base; to training the next generation of surgeon-scientists and leaders in the specialty; and to advancing knowledge through innovative clinical, translational, and data-driven research. Housed within the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center for Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences in Nashville, Tennessee, the department consistently receives top national rankings and educates approximately 170 graduate students, residents, and fellows annually. The Division of Rhinology and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery draws on a catchment area extending more than 300 miles and a long-standing referral base for the most complex sinonasal and skull base disease in the Southeast region. OVERVIEW OF FELLOWSHIPThe Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery Fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is a one-year, high-volume clinical and research fellowship that trains future leaders in rhinology. The program pairs comprehensive operative training across the full spectrum of medical and surgical rhinology and endoscopic skull base surgery with a research-intensive environment built around data science, artificial intelligence, and multi-omics approaches to sinus and skull base disease. The goal of the fellowship is to train surgeons who are technically excellent, scientifically literate, and prepared for whatever direction their careers take: surgeon-data scientists equally comfortable at the bench, the bedside, or the boardroom. Surgical cases include primary and complex revision sinus surgery, endoscopic skull base surgery (pituitary and parasellar tumors, CSF leak and encephalocele repair, and expanded endonasal approaches to the anterior and central skull base), benign and malignant sinonasal and skull base tumors, complex skull base reconstruction, endoscopic orbital decompression and dacryocystorhinostomy, and office-based rhinologic procedures. Skull base surgery is performed in collaboration with three high-volume skull base neurosurgeons, and orbital surgery in close collaboration with oculoplastic surgery. Unique to the program is a structured longitudinal curriculum in data science, covering study design, applied biostatistics, statistical programming (R and Python), and machine learning, culminating in a capstone project intended for national presentation and peer-reviewed publication. The fellow is credentialed as an Instructor with general otolaryngology admitting privileges. The program is accredited under the American Rhinologic Society and participates in the SF Match. Established in 1996 under Dr. James Duncavage, the fellowship has trained 22 rhinologists who now practice in academic and private settings across the country. Graduates have gone on to hold multiple leadership positions in their academic departments and within the ARS and are a regular presence in the rhinology community. For more information, please visit: https://www.vumc.org/ent/rhinology-and-skull-base-surgery-fellowship FELLOWSHIP DESCRIPTIONClinical Rotations:Fellows rotate in two-month segments with senior rhinology attendings to receive both clinic and operative experience with each faculty member over the 12-month year. The fellow is the primary point of contact for inpatient rhinology consultations and serves as attending surgeon on the resulting operative cases with backup from senior faculty, with independent clinical time provided for follow-up of those patients. Weekly Schedule:On average, the fellow spends 3-4 days a week in the OR and 1-2 days a week in clinic. The schedule is adjusted weekly to ensure exposure to higher-acuity and more complex cases, and the fellow has significant flexibility in navigating this to suit their educational needs. Fellows attend weekly departmental Grand Rounds, a weekly rhinology and skull base case conference (moderated by the fellow and senior faculty), the multidisciplinary Head and Neck Tumor Board, and the Pituitary Planning Meeting. Research Responsibilities: The research program is anchored by the NIH-funded Vanderbilt Sinonasal Tissue Repository (VSTR), a prospectively enrolled biobank of more than 1,000 deeply phenotyped patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and related disorders linked to clinical, radiographic, and molecular data. Active areas include inflammatory endotyping of CRS, multi-omic integration (proteomics, bulk RNA sequencing, CT radiomics, digital pathomics), the respiratory exposome (including PM2.5 air pollution), and predictive modeling of treatment response developed with the Vanderbilt Data Science Institute. Fellows also complete a structured data science curriculum and capstone project. Additional opportunities exist in surgical robotics and device innovation through the Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE). Statistical, grant-writing, and research coordinator support are available, and fellows are expected to present at national meetings and publish in peer-reviewed journals. Data Science Curriculum:A distinguishing feature of the fellowship is a structured, longitudinal curriculum in data science led by the Dr. Chowdhury, the department's Director of Data Science. Fellows receive hands-on training in study design and causal inference, applied biostatistics (regression, survival, and longitudinal modeling), statistical programming in R and Python, and machine learning and applied AI, with emphasis on knowing when these methods add value to a clinical question. The year culminates in a capstone project drawing on the VSTR and linked clinical, imaging, and patient-reported outcome data, with the expectation of national presentation and peer-reviewed publication. Diversity of Cases:The clinical practice benefits from a catchment area of more than 300 miles around Nashville and a well-established referral pattern for complex cases. The division performs more than 600 sinonasal and skull base cases annually, from which fellows complete over 400 operative cases during the training year, on par with the busiest programs in the country. Approximately 40 percent of the operative volume consists of revision surgery, with one third of cases consisting of skull base surgery and sinonasal tumors. The division also manages complex inflammatory airway disease in close collaboration with Vanderbilt's allergy and immunology faculty, including AERD, allergic fungal rhinosinusitis, and severe type 2 disease, giving fellows substantial experience in patient selection and longitudinal management of biologic therapy for CRSwNP. Fellows work alongside the facial plastic surgery and oculoplastic surgery fellows and the neurosurgical team, with opportunities in functional rhinoplasty and sleep surgery. Fellow case mix:
Call Schedule:Call is approximately one weekend in six, shared among all subspecialty fellows at Vanderbilt, and does not involve pediatric ENT or facial trauma call. Additional Information:Fellows take an active role in resident teaching in the operating room and clinic, give one departmental Grand Rounds lecture annually, mentor residents for rhinology presentations at the quarterly M&M Conference, and proctor multiple annual cadaver dissection labs. Fellows hold an appointment as Instructor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine with admitting and surgical privileges at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, and the VA Hospital. Salary is provided at the PGY-6 level ($87,769 effective January 2026; see https://www.vumc.org/gme/stipends) with a comprehensive benefits package, malpractice insurance, a 403(b) retirement plan, a $3,000 moving stipend, and professional development funds for travel to national meetings. Graduates join a longitudinal alumni network with events at national meetings and an annual gathering at the Vanderbilt Sisson-Ossoff Workshop in Vail, Colorado. CURRENT AND PAST FELLOWSIncoming Fellow (2027–2028): Nathan Wallace, MD (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai) Past Fellows and Current Positions:
REQUIREMENTS FOR APPOINTMENTApplicants must be eligible for both the US Boards and a Tennessee medical license.
APPLICATION INFORMATIONThe fellowship accepts one fellow per year, beginning July 15, through the SF Match. Applications are reviewed upon receipt. Interviews are held in the spring in a small-group format with 1-2 applicants per day, including time at our clinical and operative sites and an optional dinner. CONTACT INFORMATIONSarah Wills, Program Coordinator |