Tufts Medical Center announced today that Miriam O’Leary, MD, Interim Chair of Otolaryngology, has been named permanent Chair of The Dr. Elie E. Rebeiz Department of Otolaryngology at Tufts Medical Center. She has also been named permanent Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. O’Leary assumed her new appointments on October 1, 2022.
“We are so pleased that Dr. O’Leary will become permanent Chair of Otolaryngology at both the medical center and the school,” said Helen Boucher, MD, Interim Dean at Tufts University School of Medicine and Chief Academic Officer for Tufts Medicine. “Her dedication to both caring for our patients and mentoring our students exemplify the commitment she has to her field. I know she will continue to be an outstanding leader for our organizations.”
Dr. O’Leary has served as Interim Chair of Otolaryngology at Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine since March 2021. She is also an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology at Tufts University School of Medicine, and holds a secondary appointment as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. Prior to assuming the Interim Chair role, Dr. O’Leary was the Department of Otolaryngology’s Residency Program Director from 2012 to 2021, during which time she successfully navigated the residency through many changes and initiatives and improved the gender and racial diversity of the program. She has also been the Director of the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Tumor Board at Tufts Medical Center since 2012 and is actively engaged in national work in her specialty through multiple organizations.
“Miriam has done so much to advance our Otolaryngology Department in an ever-changing healthcare environment,” said Mike Tarnoff, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer at Tufts Medical Center. “Among her many contributions, she greatly enhanced our residency program and graduate medical education opportunities, which in turn has resulted in a pool of highly qualified residents who reflect the demographics of the community we serve and are better prepared for the challenges that await them in the clinical setting.”
Over the past year-and-a-half as Interim Chair, Dr. O’Leary has guided the medical center’s Department of Otolaryngology through numerous changes, providing vital stability while continuing to recruit talented new faculty, cultivate and expand relationships with other clinical sites and create new administrative and Graduate Medical Education leadership positions to support the continued growth of the Department.
“It has been a pleasure and an honor to be a member of the Otolaryngology Departments at Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine for the past 13 years,” said O’Leary. “We are a thriving and close-knit group, offering care that spans the entire breadth and depth of our specialty. We are also highly dedicated to collaborative patient care, the education of our residents and students and optimizing our academic footprint. I am excited to continue to have the opportunity to guide the Departments moving forward, as we strive to fulfill our clinical and academic potential.”
Dr. O’Leary earned her MD at the University of Connecticut in 2003. She completed a residency in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at Boston University and a Fellowship in Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery and Microvascular Reconstruction at the University of Miami. She has been on the faculty of Tufts University School of Medicine and in practice at Tufts Medical Center since completing her fellowship in 2009.
