Our History

I. Chronology

The Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery traces its history to 1911, when Edward F. Parker, M.D., was appointed professor of ophthalmology and otology and taught about diseases of the eyes, ears, nose, and throat. He was dean of the Medical College of South Carolina from 1906-1908. Dr. Parker completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, received his medical degree from the Medical College of the State of South Carolina in 1889, and practiced general medicine for several years before going to England and Germany to study eye, ear, nose, and throat diseases. He remained at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital and London Throat Hospital as a Junior Assistant for several years before returning to Charleston as a professor of physiology and lecturer on diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. Dr. Parker was the first physician to specialize in disorders of the eye, ear, nose, and throat in Charleston and was a member of the American Laryngological, Rhinological, and Otological Society. He served in this capacity until 1951.

 

In the 1950s, the Otolaryngology Division became an autonomous department under the direction of a prominent community surgeon, Robert Hope, M.D., who served from 1951-1963, with Richard W. Hanckel, M.D., becoming the first academic chair in 1961. Dr Hanckel established the residency program and incorporated audiology and speech pathology as divisions within the department. Warren Y. Atkins, M.D. was chair from 1974-1998 and trained 40 residents. A seminal event occurred in 1975 when he recruited John Mills, Ph.D. to serve as the research director. The department received its first R01 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1975 (J.H. Mills, PI). The research facilities were in a rented carriage house, and the rental was covered by the direct costs of the award.

During the next three years, Drs. Adkins and Mills recruited two more researchers into tenure-track faculty positions:  Richard A. Schmiedt, Ph.D. (from Washington University, St. Louis; neurophysiology), and Joe C. Adams, Ph.D. (from the NIH; neuroanatomy). A decision was made to focus on age-induced hearing loss, also known as presbycusis, and a program project grant was submitted to NIH (National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorder and Stroke (NINCDS)) in 1986 and funded effective July 1, 1987. Competing renewals were submitted to the newly formed National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders (NIDCD), established in 1988) with the grant being changed from a P01 mechanism to a P50 mechanism in 2001 to reflect the increasing emphasis on human studies. Judy R. Dubno, PhD (from the UCLA School of Medicine; auditory psychophysics and speech recognition) replaced Joe Adams in 1991 and assumed the role of PI of the grant and has served in this role to the present day. During her tenure as director of research and PI of the grant, well-equipped laboratories for neurophysiological and neuroanatomical studies of the cochlea and brain and behavioral studies with human subjects were established in the Walton Research Building and in the adjoining Quadrangle Building, most of which remains operational today.

Paul R. Lambert, M.D. (MD Duke University; O-HNS residency UCLA; neurotology fellowship House Ear Institute) served from 1999-2021 and trained 61 residents while establishing clinical divisions including recruitment of initial directors (in chronological order):

Pediatrics

Lucinda Halstead, M.D. medical director 1986-2005 (MD George Washington U; O-HNS residency Tufts U/Boston U)

David White, M.D. division chief 2005-present (MD MUSC, O-HNS residency U North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH); pediatric O-HNS fellowship U Cincinnati)

Head & Neck (H&N) Oncologic Surgery

Terry Day, M.D. division chief 2001-2021 (MD U of Oklahoma; O-HNS residency Louisiana State University; H&N fellowship U of California, Davis)

Jason Newman, M.D. division chief 2022-present (MD Thomas Jefferson University; O-HNS residency New York Presbyterian; H&N fellowship U of Pennsylvania)

Rhinology

Rodney Schlosser, M.D. division chief 2002-present (MD Mayo Clinic; O-HNS residency U Virginia; rhinology fellowship U of Pennsylvania)

Otology

Paul R. Lambert, M.D. division chief 1999-2019

Ted Meyer, M.D., Ph.D. division chief 2019-present (MD, PhD (hearing & speech sciences) U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, O-HNS residency U of Indiana; neurotology fellowship U Iowa)

Facial Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery (FPRS)

Krishna Patel, M.D., Ph.D. division chief 2008-present (MD, PhD (neurosciences) MCG; O-HNS UNC-CH; FPRS fellowship U California Davis)

Laryngology

Lucinda Halstead, M.D. medical director 2000-2019, and Bonnie Martin-Harris, Ph.D. (PhD Northwestern University) founder of the MUSC Evelyn Trammell Institute for Voice and Swallowing

Ashli O’Rourke, M.D. division chief 2019-present (Speech Language Pathology (SLP) Floria State U; MD Medical College of Georgia (MCG); O-HNS U Virginia; laryngology fellowship MCG)

In addition to establishing clinical divisions, Dr. Lambert recruited Shaun Nguyen, M.D. in 2008 to establish a clinical trials program. Dr. Nguyen also built a highly successful clinical research fellows program, giving undergraduates, medical students, and recent MD graduates an intensive research experience, having trained over 100 fellows, many of whom went on to practice academic medicine. Dr. Lambert also continued the incredible research program supporting the growth of basic science and establishing an emphasis on clinical translational research. Through these efforts, the department has been ranked ninth to twelfth for more than two decades, with the 2023 ranking (latest available at the time of this writing) being #10 with nearly $7 million dollars of NIH funding (https://brimr.org/brimr-rankings-of-nih-funding-in-2023/).

Robert F. Labadie, M.D., Ph.D. (MD, PhD (bioengineering) U Pittsburgh; O-HNS UNC-CH), is the current chair. In his short tenure, he hired 10 physicians to rebuild the H&N division and expand the sleep medicine/surgery program and pediatric division. From a research standpoint, he has introduced intraoperative imaging for cochlear implantation to MUSC.

 

II. The strategy of growth to national recognition (2000-present)

The national recognition in in all domains of the academic mission—clinical care, education, and research—was accomplished at a state institution not traditionally recognized as a national academic leader which has occasioned the question, "What have been the principal processes employed?" While no simple answer exists, an essential component is the recruitment of “five-star” individuals which on many occasions took several years to identify. Since clinical expertise is expected in the best departments, it is important to document excellence in clinical and surgical skills early in the recruitment process through frank discussions with the applicant’s chair, program director, and/or fellowship director. The best recruits to academia will want (demand) access to a rich research environment with clinical excellence and research being synergistic. Attracting such talented individuals requires messaging the department’s desire to stand out among national peers at regional, national, and international venues and inviting leaders in the field to MUSC as visiting professors so that they may experience the energy and excitement of a growing department.

 

Having attracted “five-star” recruits, the chair must then retain those individuals by showing commitment through support to the limit of resources and promotion of the individual at every opportunity within the institution and nationally. The success of junior hires is critical to building the division’s and the department’s reputation with the department’s national reputation position reflecting the depth and breadth of the programs and divisions. At the same time, research advances the career of the individuals involved in the research as they disseminate discoveries at national meetings and publish articles. A national stature emerges and the reputation of the department, the chair, and, indirectly, the parent institution increases, and the individual receives promotion through the academic ranks. The broad platform provided by the department has enabled faculty members to realize their goals on a national level. As they have succeeded, they validate this platform which helps recruit new “five-star” individuals.

The third “R” after "recruit" and "retain" is reward. We all want to feel valued, and appreciation should be expressed frequently and in multiple ways. Financial remuneration is certainly one of those ways. Our current healthcare systems place a premium on clinical productivity as measured by relative value units (RVUs), but it is the educational and research missions that distinguish an academic medical center from a well-functioning "private" healthcare system. In an effort to shift emphasis away from strictly RVU compensation and reward educational and research productivity, faculty members in O-HNS agreed to allocate a percentage of our clinical profits towards research activity using a system that assigns points for various academic activities (e.g., x points per publication or lecture weighting for significance such as an article’s impact factor). Admittedly, a minority of faculty who focused almost entirely on clinical activity were somewhat disadvantaged. Over time, however, the emphasis on research did modify behavior and inculcate a desire to publish and become involved in clinical trials which gave them more credibility as academicians.

 

III. Current State

Since 1999 the department has more than quadrupled the faculty and established strong programs and centers of excellence in Audiology, Aural Atresia and Microtia, Cochlear Implants, Craniofacial Anomalies and Cleft Lip and Palate, Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery, Voice and Swallowing (Evelyn Trammell Institute), Facial Reanimation, Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Maxillofacial Prosthodontics, Minimally Invasive Salivary Gland Surgery, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery, Pediatric Airway and Aspiration, Pediatric Otolaryngology, Sinus and Allergy, Sleep Disorders and Facial Skeletal Surgery, Vestibular and Balance, and Head and Neck Oncology (Wendy and Keith Wellin Head and Neck Tumor Center).  These centers of excellence offer outstanding multidisciplinary clinical care and provide structure for clinical and basic research and teaching initiatives.

 

A. Medical Student Courses

The department offers five undergraduate medical education otolaryngology courses for medical students: otolaryngology primary care, otolaryngology externship, community-based otolaryngology, otorhinolaryngology, and head and neck surgical oncology externship.

B. Residency

The residency program provides comprehensive training for four residents per year in all aspects of the specialty including clinical and basic research. The residents’ outstanding clinical education and research opportunities have propelled the residency program to one of the best in the nation, notably included among the top ten as ranked by Doximity in the last five years.

MUSC, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, and Shaun Jenkins Children’s Hospital are the teaching hospitals staffed by faculty and residents with ambulatory surgery performed at the Summey Medical Pavilion, and clinical visits also occurred at MUSC offices in North Charleston and Mt. Pleasant. All major aspects of the specialty are covered including endocrine surgery, facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, general/comprehensive otolaryngology, head and neck oncology, laryngology, otology/neurotology, pediatric otolaryngology, rhinology, and skull base surgery. In addition, residents receive training in sub-specialty areas including allergy, audiology, cochlear implants, neurolaryngology, sleep medicine, speech pathology, vestibular function testing, and videostroboscopy. A recent addition has been a private practice rotation with colleagues at Charleston Ear, Nose, and Throat. Residents must complete at least one research project each year and present at the annual departmental conference. Residents are also required to submit a paper for publication during training with most exceeding that threshold with dozens of papers published.

C. Fellowship

The department offers advanced training with one-year clinical fellowships in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, head and neck oncologic and reconstructive surgery, innovative medicines and outcomes research, laryngology, neurotology (2-year, American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited), pediatric otolaryngology (ACGME accredited), and rhinology and endoscopic sinus/skull base surgery. In addition to an extensive surgical experience, fellows benefit from a multidisciplinary approach by participating in outpatient clinics, rounds, and didactic conferences.

 

D. Faculty

 

The Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery’s clinical enterprise currently consists of 28 full-time physicians, 22 audiologists, 13 advanced practice providers (nurse practitioners and physician assistants), and 10 full-time PhD research scientists. Approximately 5,800 surgical cases are performed each year with outpatient visits exceeding 69,000 annually. The department is currently among the highest-ranked departments according to US News and World Report at MUSC. The progress from being unranked in the Top 100 in 1999 to our current position as twenty-third nationally has been steady and methodical. The department first breached the upper echelon of otolaryngology departments in 2009 at number 35 nationally, ten years after beginning that quest. About five years later the department ranked in the teens, achieving its highest ranking at number 11 in 2018. While the metrics for these rankings are imprecise, an upward trajectory is a clear measure of progress.

View more information on departmental research programming.