Annual Pub 2023 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 39
SUMMER 2023 MAGAZINE
o 昀nd a good doctor, one must only look for grateful
patients, and you9ll 昀nd plenty of patients happily
singing the praises of UNLV Health Ear, Nose & Throat
(ENT).
else would. When they 昀rst met, Rachel was a cheerful, active, eightyear-old girl who’d developed a lump on the side of her face. It turned
out to be cancer, and according to Dr. Wang, “it had invaded virtually
every branch of the nerve in her face.”
Led by professor and chair Robert C. Wang, MD, the
surgeons of ENT are known for performing cutting-edge procedures,
often taking the most di٠恩cult cases, the type that other surgeons in
town simply do not attempt.
Other doctors in town were hesitant to treat her, saying it would be
impossible to remove the cancer without harming the nerve, which
would leave her face badly dis昀gured.
And they have been doing it for quite a while.
“I came here in 1997 with the purpose of bringing advanced tertiarylevel care to Nevada,” says Dr. Wang. “And we’ve been fairly successful
building up a department and bringing in sub-specialists in order to
accomplish that.”
UNLV Health ENT has earned a strong reputation among healthcare
practitioners, not only in Nevada but other parts of the western region
and beyond. According to Wang: “You’ve heard about people leaving
Las Vegas for care, but we actually have referrals for our services from
Southern Utah, Northern Arizona, and from eastern parts of California.
I’ve had people come as far as Florida to seek some opinions from us.”
That’s one reason ENT is one of the busiest clinics in the UNLV Health
family. The department consists of several full-time and community
faculty members associated with the many public and private facilities
in Las Vegas. Inpatient care services take place at University Medical
Center (UMC), Mountain View Hospital, Sunrise Hospital, and in
collaboration with outpatient clinics at Spring Valley and Mountain
View medical centers.
In addition to the faculty physicians, a talented group of residents and
fellows observe and assist in the clinic and operating rooms, often
participating in procedures they wouldn’t see anywhere else in Nevada.
That type of learning and teaching is part of what makes academic
medicine so important to the community. Some of the brightest
young minds in medicine, learning advanced surgical procedures
from veteran physicians.
P H O T O S : PA U L J O N C I C H
27-year-old Las Vegas resident Rachel Sutliffe is a huge supporter
of UNLV Health. Now a successful UNLV graduate, Rachel is forever
grateful to Dr. Wang and his team for taking her case when no one
But, by chance, Rachel’s parents became aware of Dr. Wang’s
reputation handling di٠恩cult cases. After examining the happy little
girl, he concluded that while the procedure would be complicated, it
was possible to remove the cancer and restore functions to her face.
Dr. Wang recalls: “We were successful in not only removing Rachel’s
cancer, but also reconstructing all the branches of the nerve in her
face, from the forehead all the way down to the lips.”
19 years have passed since her surgery and Rachel, who works at
Wynn Las Vegas as a wedding planner, remains cancer-free.
“They treated me like family through and through,” Rachel says, “I’d
come back every three months at the beginning and then every six
months, and later it would be every year. It was kind of like visiting
family … and everyone was just super happy to see me and see my
progress.”
And those ‘family-like’ ties were strengthened even further when
Rachel graduated from UNLV. She says it feels like “it was meant to
be … like it’s all intertwined. I was eight years old when I went through
the surgery. At the 15-year mark, I graduated from UNLV. Well, after
15 years, you’re considered cancer-free. So when I graduated that
same year, on my graduation cap it read: Cancer Free ... with a Degree!”
Dr. Wang smiles every time he thinks about Rachel. “It’s so gratifying
to see her having grown up and doing so well in her life,” he says. In
fact, each year around the holidays he’s reminded of the happy girl
with the beautiful smile.
“She gave me a Christmas ornament with her smiling face on it,” says
Wang, who is married to UNLV surgeon Annabel Barber, MD. “Every
year … we take the ornament out and hang it on the Christmas tree.
It’s a special memory we are happy to have.”
RACHEL SUTLIFFE
T
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