About the WIO Exemplary Senior Trainee Award
The WIO Exemplary Senior Trainee Award recognizes an outstanding female senior resident or fellow in an otolaryngology-head and neck surgery training program who demonstrates excellence in leadership, research, education, and mentoring.
The 2024 nomination process will be open January 4 – March 8. Submit your nomination here.
2023 WIO Exemplary Senior Trainee Award Recipient
This year’s recipient of the AAO-HNS Women in Otolaryngology (WIO) Exemplary Senior Trainee Award, Shannon D. Fayson, MD, completed her residency training in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan in June 2023, and is a first-year pediatric otolaryngology fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. She founded the Black Otolaryngology Network and has mentored dozens of residents and students who are underrepresented in medicine throughout the country. In addition to fostering personal connections with these individuals, she also organized a national mentorship program and virtual events connecting faculty, residents, and students.
Dr. Fayson completed her biochemistry undergraduate degree at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN. She received her medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine in May 2018 after completing the Medical Careers Pathway Post Baccalaureate Program (MEDPATH). At Michigan Medicine, she cochaired the Diversity Committee, founded Cultural Humility Grand Rounds, was inducted into the Gold Humanism Society, received the Charles J. Krause Resident Professionalism Award in 2021 and 2023, and participated in the Healthcare Equity and Quality Scholars Program. Seeking to create a culture of awareness and openness, the Cultural Humility Grand Rounds series was designed to educate the department on important issues of health disparities.
Her consistent good nature and humanism are what truly set her apart. In 2020, Dr. Fayson was featured live on the Today Show for International Women’s Day, where she was highlighted as a woman who is changing the field of surgery. She is also the recipient of the Holt Leadership Award for Residents and Fellows-in-Training.
RECIPIENTS:
- 2022: Zainab Farzal, MD, MPH
- 2021: Anisha R. Noble, MD, MS
- 2020: Leila Jean Mady, MD, PhD, MPH
- 2019: Hayley L. Born, MD
- 2018: Sarah N. Bowe, MD
- 2017: Juliana Bonilla-Velez, MD
- 2016: Kara Davis, MD
