Evan R. Reiter, M.D.

Evan Reiter is a person whose name comes up every time a medical education committee needs a member. Despite working in a subspecialty area, his reputation as an outstanding teacher is well known throughout the VCU Health System and the School of Medicine. Dr. Reiter has developed a model competency-based training program in Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery with a curriculum that “program directors across the country utilize as a foundation for RRC compliance,” says Kelley M. Dodson, M.D., Assistant Professor in Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery.

In addition to leading a fully-accredited residency program with a 100% National Board pass rate and full compliance with duty-hour limits, Dr. Reiter provides classroom, clinical, and laboratory teaching for medical students, housestaff, graduate students, and fellow faculty and receives excellent teaching evaluations in all area.

Dr. Reiter founded and continues to organize the annual VCUHS Resident Research Day. Richard Costanzo, Ph.D., Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery explains, “Research Day showcases the research efforts of residents from each of the residency programs and provides a nucleus for new ideas and scholarly interactions among physicians in earlier stages of their training. This event would not exist at VCU if Dr. Reiter had not invested the time and effort to make it happen.” Dr. Reiter himself is a role model for scholarly productivity, with over two dozen peer-reviewed articles, three book chapters, and over 35 abstracts and presentations to his credit.

“Beyond the department, Evan has taken a leadership role in resident education for the entire medical center. He has been a member of the VCU Graduate Education committee since 2003, serving on the Resident Life Subcommittee and this year became the Chair of the Accreditation Committee. Dr. Reiter is also an active member of the VCU Honor Council, the VCU School of Medicine Curriculum Design Committee, and the VCUHS Medical Staff Quality Oversight Committee,” shares Laurence J. DiNardo, M.D., FACS, Professor and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Reiter also provides leadership in education and training activities at the national level. He has served as a member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, Rhinology and Allergy Education Committee, the Society of University Otolaryngologists, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He recently served as President of the Virginia Society of Otolaryngologists and is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors.

When people describe Dr. Reiter, the words “team player” appear over and over again. “He is perhaps the best of the faculty in our department at leading a resident through a surgical procedure without ‘stealing’ the procedure,” recalls recent program graduate Dr. Seth Evans. As another former resident, Dr. Daniel Santos, says, “Perhaps the best example of Dr. Reiter’s commitment to resident education is not the way he treats the residents in his own department but how he treats residents from other departments who rotate through during their own programs. I have had many comments throughout the years from residents in internal medicine, emergency medicine, and anesthesiology regarding Dr. Reiter’s willingness to teach and engage everyone in the process of medical education.”

“Dr. Reiter’s ability to manage all patients within the realm of otolaryngology and to do so at a high level of ability and surgical skill is rare in the academic world where sub-specialization is the norm,” says Eric H. Holbrook, M.D., a former trainee who is now Assistant Professor of the Department of Otology and Laryngology at Harvard Medical School. “Since the beginning of my residency, I modeled my idea of an excellent academic otolaryngologist after Dr. Reiter, which I believe is the highest compliment to any profession. His compassion and sensitivity toward his patients as well as his genuine interest in residency training and advancement of the field are inspiring.”