When Cori Walker, MD, PGY-2, attended the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, she initially planned to become a pediatrician. Her plans changed when she got involved with a research project on early language development. The project’s principal investigator (PI) was a pediatric otolaryngologist, who thought the field might be a good fit for the future Dr. Walker. 

 As a result, she did some job shadowing and discovered she thrived on the relationships she was able to build with patients as well as the ability to learn new skills in the operating room. Whether she chooses pediatric or adult otolaryngology, Dr. Walker loves the unique opportunity otolaryngologists have to perform specialized surgeries and medically treat and follow patients for many years.

At the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, “The faculty are all so accomplished in their respective specialties but also very committed to teaching residents,” she says. “They want us to become experts in this field as well.” She also loves that the large resident group “feels like a close-knit family.”

Dr. Walker recently joined a research team through the UI Public Policy Center. She is working with Natoshia Askelson, MPH, PhD, an associate professor in the UI College of Public Health, on an initiative to promote awareness of the importance of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for prevention of oropharyngeal cancers, and to investigate what role otolaryngology clinics may have in advancing this initiative.

She is also helping to lead the department’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, made possible in part by a grant from the UI Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her efforts are two-fold: increase diversity in the field of otolaryngology by introducing local medical students to the field and educate current residents on diversity, equity, and inclusion through professional development.