Chief Resident Dr. Ido Badash Gives His Perspective on Graduating

This June, the chief residents from the USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery will be graduating after five years of hands-on training in patient care in a clinical and research setting. I had the opportunity to speak with chief resident Dr. Ido Badash (MD), who grew up in Dallas, Texas and became interested in medicine when doing clinical rotations in high school. “Growing up with English as my second language,” he says, “I was always drawn to the sciences due to their inherent lack of reliance on language, and medicine seemed like a natural extension of my passion for science with the added opportunity to help others.”

The USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery residency program is five years in total. With each year of training, residents’ responsibilities gradually increase as they continue to be supervised by an attending physician. While the first year of residency is divided between otolaryngology rotations and general surgery rotations, their next three years focus on additional otolaryngology education at Los Angeles General Medical Center, Keck Hospital of USC, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Badash is a proud graduate of USC’s undergraduate program and became interested in otolaryngology specifically when he did a rotation at Keck as a third-year medical student: “Helping others breathe, smell, taste and hear while also treating cancer and restoring structure and function was extremely appealing to me.” He was drawn to the Keck School of Medicine in particular because of the unique opportunity to help an underserved patient population at the Los Angeles General Medical Center while learning from world-class faculty at Keck.

This year, Badash and his fellow chief residents, including Dr. Erick Garcia (MD), Dr. Isabelle Magro (MD, MS), and Dr. Margaret Narimba (MD), took on additional leadership and administrative roles beyond their normal clinical duties and served as mentors for more junior residents. In reflecting on the role of mentorship in his own time at USC, Badash notes that some of his key mentors are John Oghalai, Tamara Chambers, Bozena Wrobel, Michael Johns, and Kevin Hur. However, he says that “everyone in the faculty has contributed to my education and love for the program in some way. Having seen how crucial mentorship has been to my own education, confidence and career guidance, I am eager to continue mentoring the next generation of surgeons and students in academic practice in the future.” The aspect of Badash’s medical training that he has enjoyed most has been learning from the faculty members in the department and seeing how they have mastered their craft. “Operating with our faculty every day has inspired me to similarly hone my skills and achieve mastership in my field in the future.”

Badash’s residency training has taught him “how to deliver evidence-based medical and surgical care with precision and empathy, how to lead within a multidisciplinary team with trainees at every level of their education and how to stay intellectually curious through research and education. I’ve been fortunate to train in a high-volume, academically rigorous environment that emphasizes both clinical excellence and innovation, and as I transition into fellowship, these takeaways will allow me to approach complex rhinologic and skull base cases with confidence, contribute meaningfully to ongoing research projects and continue mentoring others the way I was mentored.”  With regard to patient care, Badash believes the most important priority is trust, “…building it through clear communication, professionalism, and genuine compassion. It’s essential that patients feel heard, respected, and that we are actively engaged in their care.”

Though Badash is graduating from residency in June, he will be staying on at Keck to complete a fellowship in Allergy, Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery. He says, “I’m excited to further hone my clinical and surgical skills and continue working on translational research projects.” In five years, he hopes to be well underway in building his practice as an academic rhinologist, performing complex sinus and skull base surgeries, mentoring residents and fellows and leading research initiatives that improve patient outcomes and advance the field. “My goal is to become a clinician-scientist who positively impacts both individual patients and the specialty at large.”