Browne Named Chair of Otolaryngology; McGuirt Honored for Leadership

August 29, 2006

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – J. Dale Browne, M.D., has been named the James A. Harrill Professor and Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology (Division of Surgical Sciences), at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, replacing W. Frederick McGuirt, M.D., who stepped down as chairman after leading the department for eight years.

McGuirt received the Honored Surgeon Award from the N.C. chapter of the American College of Surgeons at the chapter’s meeting this summer, in recognition of his longstanding leadership in the field of surgery.

Browne’s appointment as chairman was effective Aug. 1. He has been on the faculty of the Medical Center since 1989, and is one of the region’s leading surgical oncologists. He specializes in skull base surgery, head and neck cancer, and surgical reconstruction.

Wake Forest Baptist has been recognized as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” in otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) by U.S. News & World Report, for seven of the eight years of McGuirt’s tenure as chairman. Seven Wake Forest otolaryngologists, including McGuirt and Browne, are among the 18 from North Carolina listed in Best Doctors in America®.

McGuirt remains on the faculty but plans to retire by the summer of 2007.

Browne has performed more than 300 skull base surgical procedures, as well as more than 400 major head and reconstruction procedures. Nationally known for his surgical expertise and involvement in national educational efforts in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, he is a fellow of multiple professional organizations including the American Society of Head and Neck Surgery, the American Neurotology Society, the North American Skull Base Society, and the American College of Surgeons.

Browne has written extensively in his field and is the current editor-in-chief of the Patient of the Month in Otolaryngology, a popular educational publication of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

A native of Thomaston, Ga., Browne graduated from Mercer University in Macon, Ga., and received his M.D. degree from the Medical College of Georgia. He joined the faculty at Wake Forest after completing a fellowship at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

McGuirt’s many leadership positions include chairman of the board of governors of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, president of the American Bronchoesophagological Association, the American Laryngological Association and the Forsyth-Stokes-Davie Medical Society, member of the board of governors of the American College of Surgeons, and a senior examiner of the American Board of Otolaryngology. McGuirt has edited four books and authored or co-authored more than 150 medical papers or book chapters.

Other Wake Forest otolaryngologists listed in Best Doctors in America are Daniel Kirse, M.D., Jamie Koufman, M.D., (now at the Voice Center of New York), Brian L. Matthews, M.D., John S. May, M.D., and Christopher A. Sullivan, M.D.

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Media Contacts: Mark Wright, mwright@wfubmc.edu, Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, at (336) 716-4587.

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,187 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.

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