ENT Surgeon Interview

Interviewer: Liz F.

Interviewee: Wendy Smith

Background:

Wendy Smith is a surgeon based in San Francisco at Kaiser Permanente. She has worked there for almost nine years. Wendy specializes in head and neck/ENT surgery. She is very passionate about her work and loves being a surgeon as well as her specialty! In this interview, I asked Wendy some questions about her job as an ENT surgeon.

Here’s some background on the head and neck specialty! When one chooses to become a surgeon they get to choose a specific field to specialize in. One of those fields is the ear, nose, and throat specialty, which can also be called otolaryngology. Otolaryngology is concerned with the diagnosis, management, and treatment of diseases and disorders of the ear, nose, throat, head, and neck. This includes the sinuses, larynx (voice box), oral cavity, and upper pharynx (mouth and throat). A fun fact about the specialty is that it is the oldest specialty in America! Someone who is an ENT surgeon works to fix injuries or defects in areas of the head and neck that are causing pain, infections, or breathing problems. Some procedures that an ENT surgeon might perform are a stapedectomy which is replacing the stapes bones with an implant or a septoplasty which is repairing a deviated septum. That’s the basis of otolaryngology!

Q: Why did you choose to become a physician/surgeon?

A: I became a physician because I was fascinated with the human body. I enjoy learning how everything functions, especially the brain. I liked the idea of doing something where I could help people and have a concrete impact on their quality of life.

Q: How would you describe the ENT specialty?

A: The ENT specialty deals with all different conditions of the head and neck region minus the brain and eyes. It spans both benign and cancerous conditions. We take care of people across the entire life span, meaning children as well as the elderly. Common conditions we deal with are ear infections, sinus infections, and nasal congestion.

Q: What led you to become an ENT surgeon?

A: I had a great mentor at medical school that was a head and neck surgeon. That was my introduction to the specialty and my inspiration to go into it. I was drawn to it because I liked the surgical anatomy involved. It is very complex anatomy including the cranial nerves. I liked the surgical procedures and the people who worked in the field. I felt as if it was a field in which you can do relatively straightforward procedures that help people to talk, breathe, hear, and more which is extremely important.

Q: What is the most interesting case that you have treated?

A: One thing that comes to my mind is that when I was in residency there was a woman who was in an ATV accident and she had a complex laceration on her face. Her nasal bones were sticking out. That was probably one of the craziest things I’ve seen.

Q: How did you become an ENT?

A: In college, I majored in human biology at Stanford, then I went to medical school for 4 years at UC San Diego. Then I had a 6-year residency at UC San Diego which included one year of research where I studied smell and taste dysfunction.

Q: Is there any advice you would give to someone who wants to become a surgeon?

A: Surgery is a great field for someone who likes working with their hands and seeing relatively quick results. That being said, it’s a long hard path because you’re having to learn two skill sets. You have to gain both knowledge-based and procedural-based education, which can be difficult to grasp. For the right personality, it’s a great field. I think you also need to be very confident to be a surgeon.

Summary:

To summarize, being a surgeon overall is a very rewarding but difficult job path. When becoming a surgeon, you could choose to specialize in ear, nose, and throat just like Wendy! She most definitely loves her specialty. Hopefully, this helped you to learn more about the job of an ENT surgeon!