Medical Students Elected to Top Posts of National Otolaryngology Newsletter

By Dirk Hoffman

Fourth-year student Alexandra Corbin has been named editor-in-chief, and third year-student Katelin Keenehan has been named managing editor of The Auricle.

Published twice a month, The Auricle features peer-reviewed research highlights, educational articles, clinical pearls, and board-style ENT questions. Its mission is to promote early interest in otolaryngology, foster scholarly collaboration, and keep medical students, residents and attendings informed about new and innovative work in the field.

Corbin and Keenehan’s appointments highlight the growing national presence of the University at Buffalo in academic otolaryngology and supports broader educational and publishing opportunities for students nationwide, according to Michele M. Carr, MD, DDS, PhD, clinical professor of otolaryngology and a faculty reviewer for The Auricle.

“Alexandra and Katelin now lead a national team of more than 40 medical students and 15 attending physicians,” Carr says.

The Jacobs School is well represented, with additional members on The Auricle team being student editor Erin Gawel (MS4), student writers Chinelo Eruchalu (MS2), Joshua Sorrentino (MS4), and Matthaeus Hendricks (MS2) and social media team member Murilo de Santana Hager (MS3).

Two of the medical students who founded The Auricle in 2020 were students in a national ENT summer course that Carr oversees.

“I actually became a mentor for one of them and wanted to support her project,” Carr says. “I suggested that they involve faculty to review their articles. It was a good way to spread the word as well.”

Carr says she encourages every UB student with an interest in otolaryngology to get involved with The Auricle.

“The students who are involved are real go-getters. They’re focused and energetic,” she says. “They’re determined to be successful in a highly competitive career.”

Corbin joined the staff in the fall of 2022 during her first year of medical school after hearing about the newsletter from upperclassmen and from Carr.

Possessing a strong foundation in scientific writing from three years of undergraduate wet lab research and two years of full-time basic science research at Boston Children’s Hospital before medical school, Corbin was immediately drawn to the newsletter’s mission of promoting accessible, high-quality ENT education.   

“I especially appreciated its focus on sharing timely, evidence-based work in a compact, digestible format that’s realistic for busy medical students to engage with,” she says. “I loved the idea of committing to staying current on research in a field I was actively pursuing while also refining my science communication skills through writing.”

After writing for The Auricle for a year, Corbin was promoted to student editor and then managing editor before being elected editor-in-chief. At the end of her M4 year, she will pass that position to Keenehan.

As editor-in-chief, Corbin oversees the editorial direction, publication pipeline, and strategic growth of The Auricle.

For each issue, she reviews all content for accuracy and formatting, publishes the final issue on the newsletter’s website, and distributes it via email to over 600 subscribers.

Each issue is produced entirely digitally through a structured editorial workflow involving medical student writers, medical student editors, and faculty reviewers (U.S. otolaryngology attendings) from across the country.

“Writers sign up for one of our seven core subspeciality sections and perform an independent literature search to identify a recent research article relevant to their section and submit an article proposal to the editorial board for approval,” Corbin says.

Writers then draft their pieces, which undergo two rounds of review — first by student editors and then by attending otolaryngologists who are matched to the piece based on their fellowship training.

After revisions are complete, Corbin does a final review for formatting, clarity, and accuracy before publishing the issue and sending it out.

“Despite being fully remote, our team works very efficiently through a shared Google calendar with internal deadlines, regular team meetings, and clear communication via email and GroupMe,” she says. “The national and multidisciplinary structure of our team allows us to capture diverse perspectives while creating content that is practical, engaging, and easy to digest for medical students at all stages of training.”

Keenehan became involved with The Auricle after her M1 year while conducting research with Carr. She started as a writer before being promoted to editor and then managing editor.

“As managing editor, I do most of the organizing prior to the publication process, which Alex handles,” she says. “I send out monthly emails and deadlines to our writers and editors and assure that deadlines are being met by all involved.”

Keenehan also coordinates a group of reserve writers, who step up for a month if one of the regular summary writers needs to take some time off.

She is also typically the starting point for any questions writers or editors have about choosing an article, approving an article, or the process in general. 

Keenehan says she was initially interested in otolaryngology because she was a patient herself in 2023 when she underwent sinus surgery.

“When I started medical school, my interest grew because I loved our head and neck block in gross anatomy and began getting involved in the field due to this,” she says.

Corbin says her interest in otolaryngology grew from a combination of early research and shadowing experiences, anatomy education, and a deepening understanding of what she sought in a medical career.

“I began medical school with five years of prior surgical experience from wet lab research, where I performed procedures on animal models and quickly realized that I am most motivated and fulfilled by the precision of hands-on, technical work and the ability to see my actions lead to real-time, tangible results,” she says.

Corbin says she felt confident early on that she wanted to pursue a surgical specialty, but she needed to find the right fit.

“That connection came during the head and neck block of gross anatomy in my first semester, which was my first exposure to the anatomy and pathologies central to otolaryngology and the first time I felt genuinely energized by a field in medicine,” she says.

“As I continued exploring ENT through clinical and academic experiences, I realized I was drawn to the work done to preserve, restore, and improve some of the most essential aspects of being human, like the basic functions of breathing, speaking, and swallowing, as well as core senses like hearing, smell, and taste.”

“Working in a specialty where I could address tangible problems that are both medically complex and closely tied to a patient’s quality of life and connection to the world around them felt uniquely meaningful,” Corbin adds.