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.
Nominate your distinguished colleagues for an award now through March 9, 2026.
2025 WIO Exemplary Senior Trainee Award Recipient
The 2025 recipient of the AAO-HNS Women in Otolaryngology (WIO) Exemplary Senior Trainee Award is Pauline Huynh, MD. Dr. Huynh is a rising 5th year resident training at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center. She received her bachelor’s degree in health and humanity at the University of Southern California and her medical degree at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Following residency, she will complete fellowship training in laryngology at Oregon Health & Science University.
Throughout her residency, Dr. Huynh has distinguished herself through a steadfast commitment to advancing health equity, strengthening the physician workforce, and elevating the voices of trainees at every level. At her home institution, she has served on the Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Committee and successfully mobilized her peers on key issues, including trainee rights and scope of practice challenges. As a union bargaining member, she participated in negotiations to secure a first contract with improved wages and benefits for residents.
Dr. Huynh remains deeply involved in her academic pursuits at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, earning multiple departmental research awards and being named the 2024 Resident Researcher of the Year. During her year as Ciccarone Center Health Fellow, she managed 12 multicenter digital health studies and helped secure a $3.5 million grant from the American Heart Association to launch the Center for Health Technology & Innovation. She also participated in the inaugural JAMA Student Leadership Program, learning best practices in study design, manuscript preparation, and public engagement. Her research spans clinical education, hearing loss, gender-affirming care, and health system utilization, and has been presented at numerous national conferences.
Currently serving her second term as the Section for Residents and Fellows-in-Training representative on the AAO-HNS Board of Governors, she recently completed her term as chair of the American Medical Association’s Resident & Fellow Section, representing 70,000 trainees and championing resident protections. Her leadership and mentorship have had a lasting impact, earning her the 2024 AAO-HNS Holt Leadership Award.
RECIPIENTS:
- 2024: Jacqueline Harris, MD
- 2023: Shannon D. Fayson, MD
- 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
