The Path to Department Chair: Arriving and Thriving

I Was an Internal Successor

William O. Collins, MD, chair of the department of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at the University of Florida (UF) College of Medicine in Gainesville, appears to have traveled a straightforward path to his leadership role. “I was an internal successor,” he said. “I took over as chair in February of 2022, with a rather quick succession from our previous chair.”

There are no shortcuts when it comes to qualifying for the top job, however. After completing medical school, as well as his internship, residency, and fellowship in rhinology and advanced endoscopic sinus surgery at UF, Dr. Collins completed a second fellowship in pediatric otolaryngology at the Children’s National Medical Center/ George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. He then returned to Florida to join the faculty at UF.

Despite having spent the lion’s share of his time at one institution, Dr. Collins notes that he never specifically sought, nor prepared for, the role of chair. “There were a number of roles that led me to this point—first and foremost, I have always had a busy clinical practice in pediatric otolaryngology, so that allowed me to gain a greater understanding of all facets of patient care and build valuable relationships with colleagues,” he said. Dr. Collins served for close to 10 years as residency program director at UF. “In that capacity, I dealt with a multitude of issues, including resident education, curriculum design, and human resources/personnel issues. I worked closely with hospital and GME [graduate medical education] leadership, navigating regulatory agencies, etc.”

Dr. Collins served as chair of the institution’s operating room block committee and later in a role that would be considered “surgeon-in-chief” at other institutions, he explained. “Both of these roles helped broaden my network of relationships and allowed me to learn more about how a hospital really works, with all of its interdependent parts,” he said.

The Seed Was Planted in Residency

With two years as chair of the otolaryngology department at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine in Denver under her belt, Yuri Agrawal, MD, MPH, described her rise to leadership as organic. “In terms of thinking about being a department chair, the seed was planted at Johns Hopkins, where I matched in ENT as a resident,” she said. “I did my residency and fellowship in Baltimore, so I was there for a long time. I met faculty that I was interacting with as a resident who then went on to become department chairs.” Indeed, during her years at Hopkins, Dr. Agrawal saw her program director hired as chair at Oregon Health and Sciences School of Medicine, and the subsequent program director became chair at Duke University.