An Interview with Myles L. Pensak, MD

by Amy E. Hamaker •

If there’s any person who epitomizes the Triological Society, it’s the ever-present Myles Pensak, MD, who has served as the executive vice president of the Triological Society for 12 years and will retire from the presidency and active practice following COSM in April 2025.

Throughout his lengthy career as an otologist, Dr. Pensak has seen many changes to the society and the practice of otolaryngology. ENTtoday had the chance to sit down with Dr. Pensak and review his career, his time in the Triological Society, and the changes he sees coming in both.

 

Start of a Career

ENTtoday: How did you get started in medicine, and what made you choose otolaryngology?

Myles Pensak, MD: I grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and attended the State University of New York in Binghamton. I majored in medieval European history and philosophy, which, I know, is different. I knew I wanted to attend medical school, but I figured I would never have an opportunity to just study disciplines and topics I was interested in, so I took the minimum number of required classes to go to medical school and studied other cool stuff. I’ve never regretted it because it opened a world of reading, thinking, and writing that I wouldn’t have been exposed to  as a chemistry or a biology major.

In medical school in New York, I was fascinated by the universe of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, and following graduation, I started my surgical residency with this field foremost in my mind. I had one elective in otolaryngology as a second-year surgical resident. When I saw my first head/neck surgical dissection, and subsequently otologic microsurgery, I was smitten and fell in love with the specialty.

I was most fortunate to get a position as a resident at Yale and finished my residency education there, then on to Nashville to train in neurotology with Mike Glasscock, MD. Once I finished my fellowship, I had an offer to go to Cincinnati from both Dr. Shumrick and the young new chair of neurosurgery, John Tew, MD, who wanted to develop an investigative interdisciplinary clinical skull base practice. I told my wife we’d be in Cincinnati for two to three years before going back to New York. Clearly, that didn’t happen, and here we are 40 years later, with my entire medical career happening in Cincinnati.

ENTT: What was it about otolaryngology that captured your imagination?

MP: I think it was a combination of two things. First, I loved the aesthetics of microsurgery, and second, the complex anatomy of the ears, nose, and throat had huge appeal to me.