Laura T. Hetzler, MD to serve as Vice Chair of LSU Department of Otolaryngology
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We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Laura T. Hetzler, MD, FACS serve as the Vice Chair of the LSU Department of Otolaryngology.
Dr. Hetzler joined the Department in 2010. She completed her medical education at the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, and a residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Loyola University in Chicago, followed by subspecialty fellowship training in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of California at Davis.
Since joining the LSU Faculty, Dr. Hetzler has tirelessly worked to enhance and expand the department's clinical, educational, and research activities. In 2013 she was appointed as Residency Program Director, and in that capacity, she oversaw the reorganization and re-accreditation of the LSU ENT residency program, which follows the unique format of a Regional Residency Program, in which residents train at multiple hospitals and clinics across three cities, serving patients from a broad geographic region encompassing the entire southern half of Louisiana. Under Dr. Hetzler's leadership, this program has maintained continuous full accreditation, and the patient care aspect of our program has been recognized multiple times by US News & World Report for clinical excellence.
Dr. Hetzler's initiative and foresight have helped the department to do many innovative things. She proposed, planned, recruited, and organized the Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital Cleft and Craniofacial Team. This nationally accredited multidisciplinary program, dedicated to caring for children who have facial deformities, includes facial plastic surgeons, neurosurgeons, maxillofacial surgeons, pediatricians, pediatric dentists, orthodontists, speech pathologists, feeding specialists, geneticists, audiologists, social workers and others.
In addition, Dr. Hetzler founded the Facial Nerve Disorders Multidisciplinary Clinic, another highly specialized program, to help patients affected by a wide variety of disorders that lead to facial paralysis. Working with Dr. Sara McDowell, DPT, this clinic offers patients a combination of treatments including surgery and procedures, along with specified facial physical therapy and facial re-training, to reanimate damaged nerves and muscles, and to the paralyzed or the recovering face.
Dr. Hetzler, currently Associate Professor, has an extensive record of academic publication, presentation, invited lectures, and accomplishment. In addition to her duties in the residency, she has served as a de facto faculty liaison, and has also been very effective in executive and administrative work with the LSU Health Sciences Center and all our affiliated hospitals.
As Vice Chair of the Department, Dr. Hetzler will continue to oversee and coordinate the Residency program, Clinical programs, and Educational programs at all sites. In doing so, she will work closely with Dr. Rohan Walvekar, Vice Chair for Head and Neck Oncology Services, and Dr. Andrew McWhorter, Vice Chair for Development.