Inaugural Rhinoplasty Course is a great success

Houston Methodist Hospital Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery recently hosted the inaugural Rhinoplasty Course with about 30 learners, faculty members and private practitioners in attendance. The hands-on, day-long learning experience was considered a big success and a strong foundational point for the course to continue in future years. “We had a strong agenda covering different levels of training. It was wonderful to have everyone’s input, hear different people’s perspectives and learn how they do things differently in subtle ways. It was a nice way to bring a lot of ideas and people together,” said Evan Jones, MD, facial plastic and reconstructive surgery fellow who helped organize and plan the course. Dr. Jones is also an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston where he helps teach residents.

He said the planning was a coordinated effort with Anthony Brissett, MD, FACS, Professor and Vice Chair Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Division Chief Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Houston Methodist Academic Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College. "This was a deep dive and very comprehensive course to be our first one. I look forward to growing the experience and training in future years," Dr. Brissett said. “This course has been a long-standing vision of mine, and I was honored to offer it as a foundational educational experience for residents and fellows across the Texas Medical Center. It was a privilege to showcase the spirit of collaboration and academic excellence we have fostered at Houston Methodist Hospital,” Dr. Brissett added.

Dr. Jones pointed out that the multi-institutional and faculty project will be conducted every year, and some learners will overlap from year to year. The course brought together participants from all Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery residency training programs in the greater Houston area and included faculty from across the facial plastic surgery community within the Texas Medical Center. Top Houston facial plastic surgeon Dr. Russell Kridel was the keynote speaker. “Dr. Kridel is internationally recognized as a preeminent leader and educator in rhinoplasty and facial plastic surgery, and his participation added significant value to the program,” added Dr. Brissett.

The day started with introductory aspects of rhinoplasty and function, moved through to mid-level techniques to improve nasal airways and concluded in MITIE (Houston Methodist Institute for Training, Innovation & Education) training lab where cadavers were available for practicing different procedures. “We were able to share our experiences from basics to advanced levels,” said Angela Sturm, MD, FACS, a private practice physician who was mentored by Dr. Brissett and is co-director of Houston Methodist’s Facial Plastic Surgery Fellowship. “We discussed and demonstrated tricks and techniques to accelerate their learning, so that they can feel more comfortable with basic skills quickly and adopt more nuanced techniques as they advance in their training,” said Dr. Sturm whose topic of the day was an advanced concern – rhinoplasty procedures of the tip of the nose, an area many consider to be the most complicated rhinoplasty.

She said the tip of the nose is almost always a point of concern for the patient and very detailed in how it can be addressed. Rhinoplasty procedures have been refined over time, but particularly in the last five years because of advancing technology. “It’s been so hard in the past to keep up with each other and what others are doing. The surgical techniques are getting exponentially better because we’re all talking and learning from each other on a real-time basis. Now we have groups that are like chats and you can get input from potentially hundreds of people before you make your surgical plan.” In addition to the didactic component, the course featured a hands-on cadaver dissection lab led by Fred J. Bressler, MD, FACS, Assistant Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology, Houston Methodist Hospital, and a member of the fellowship program at Houston Methodist. Dr. Jones added that practicing on the tissue itself is “wildly valuable” because everything else behaves a bit differently than the real thing.

“If you have the real thing to train on, then you must use it. It’s so unique and wonderful,” Dr. Jones said, pointing out that the course also made available the current tools that different surgeons use. “One of the biggest points of this course is to provide the attendees with tools to accomplish their goals, guiding them in the implementation to perform these surgeries safely and effectively.” Then, he added, “It’s eye-opening for the trainees because they are able to get past a roadblock they’d previously been stuck at. You see the pure satisfaction in their faces as they breakthrough that glass ceiling. It’s exceptionally rewarding to see.” He said the Rhinoplasty Course will evolve in years to come, growing the number of participants and the number of faculty to help teach. He said he sees the potential for the course to grow in attendance by 10 to 20 percent every year until it is perhaps held two times a year. The lecture part of the day would be moved to a larger hall, more participants would be invited and a larger number of specimens will be made available for the hands-on experience. “There is no more real world situation than what we provided in this course,” he said.