ENT & Head and Neck Surgery

Our Team      Photogallery

A brief overview of the Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Specialized Center

At the Specialized Center of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, we provide the comprehensive treatment of diseases in the ENT and head and neck surgery fields. We ensure surgical service including super-specialized interventions as the leader of the Czech otorhinolaryngology.

Annually, we provide around 7,500 surgeries and 48,500 outpatient examinations. The number increases per each year.

Our center focuses on super-specialized operations in the areas of reconstructive oncological surgeries, surgeries of the skull base including tumors and vestibuloacoustic nerves or cochlear and auditory brainstem neuro implants to treat bilateral deafness, too.

How will your detailed schedule look like? What kind of surgeries, procedures, methods or treatment can you observe? Check what can you see by shadowing every member of the mentoring team.

Is this specialty placement ideal for you?

  • This placement is ideal for you if you are interested in a surgical specialty and already experienced in the healthcare environment as shadowing the ENT and Head and Neck Surgery mentoring team allow you to discover super-specialized surgical methods and procedures as well as the diagnostic ones. 
  • This placement is a great opportunity for those of you, who want to become doctors one day. The otorhinolaryngology is an extremely varied specialty and you will work with adult patients. For those of you who are interested in the pediatric ENT, we suggest the option of Otorhinolaryngology for Children.
  • If you are uncertain about your desired profession, but you are interested in this specialty, applying for placement in both sections of the hospital is an ideal solution.

Let's take a closer look at the specialties…

Our center covers a comprehensive spectrum of examination and treatment of diseases in the ENT and head and neck surgery fields wherein the super-specialized patient cases we are the leader for the whole country. The otorhinolaryngology specialty deals with medical and surgical management and treatment of patients with disorders and diseases of the structures of ear, nose, and throat.

The head and neck surgery focus on the areas where our most important senses as smell, sight, and hearing as well as our face are. Our team provides the treatment of various types of tumors, reconstructive surgeries after trauma or inborn deformities of the face as well as on cosmetic surgery.

Our center is divided into the following sections – 4 Operating Rooms where we conduct from 12 to 19 surgeries daily, ICU and I. and II. Inpatient Units with 66 beds altogether, Super-specialized centers and 8 Outpatient Wards with specialized care including a smaller OR for methods and procedures in local anesthesia.

Our ICU is divided into oncological and standard inpatient parts with 12 beds. Apart from the ICU, we have the I. Inpatient Unit with 27 beds and the special focus on oncological patients with the equipment for chemotherapy treatment. The II. Inpatient Unit is a standard ward with 27 beds.

One of the most exciting parts of our work is the super-specialized focus that we can offer to our patients in the different centers as well as in the specialized outpatient wards and cooperation with various departments within the University Hospital in Motol on patient cases that our colleagues send us from the whole Czech Republic.

Among our super-specialized centers are:

  • Center for laser surgery
  • Center for surgery of the thyroid and parathyroid glands
  • Center for cochlear implants
  • Center for head and neck oncological surgery
  • Center for salivary glands diseases
  • Center for rehabilitation in patients after total laryngectomy
  • Center for electronic hearing replacements
  • Center for treatment of sleep insufficiency
  • Center for swallowing disorders with the multidisciplinary cooperation

In the specialized outpatient wards the patients come for regular check-ups, to undergo diagnostic methods, treatment procedures or small surgeries in local anesthesia:

  • Oncology
  • Cophosurgery
  • Rhinology
  • Endocrinological surgery
  • Otoneurology
  • Correction of hearing disorders - hearing aids
  • Laryngo-phonosurgery
  • Rehabilitation of voice - voice prostheses
  • Sleep disorders and snoring-related problems
  • Sonography
  • Salivary glands disorders
  • Swallowing disorders
  • Neurosurgery and cranial base disorders

Who do we take care of?

We take care of adult patients who suffer from ear, nose, throat, and head and neck conditions or are in the need of facial cosmetic surgery. These patients can come to our specialized center with adenoid problems, swallowing problems, tonsillitis, and obstructive sleep apnoea, oncological diseases affecting the mouth, oral cavity, throat, larynx, salivary glands, skull base and the nose area.

We focus as well on the removal of facial skin lesions and skin cancer, nasal injuries, nasal polyps and obstructions, tumors of the nose or disorders of the sense of smell. We treat otosclerosis, age-related hearing loss, infections in ears as well as dizziness and vertigo, tinnitus and many more conditions.

Our methods and procedures

Among our newest treatment methods and procedures are the following ones:

  • Use of Montgomery Salivary Bypass Tube after resection and reconstruction interventions in oncological surgery of head and neck
  • CODACS – the first surgery of this cochlear implant in the Czech Republic
  • Endoscopic approaches in the removal of tumors of the internal auditory meatus
  • Extended microsurgery in tumors of paranasal sinuses and crania using the navigation
  • Augmentation of vocal cords via Radiesse
  • Treatment of patients with sleep apnea using the DISE method
  • Treatment of Frey‘s syndrome by botulinum toxin
  • Perioperative neuromonitoring
  • Fibroendoscopy of swallowing pathways with functional assessments (FEES)
  • Examination of vestibular myogenic potentials (VEMP) in patients with equilibrium disorders
  • Endoscopic surgeries of esophageal diverticula
  • Endoscopic diagnostics of respiratory tract tumors and tumors of swallowing pathways with the help of MBI
  • Endoscopic examination of the salivary glands and endoscopic treatment of sialolithiasis
  • Rehabilitation of patients after total laryngectomy by synthetic voice recordings in collaboration with the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen - Department of Cybernetics

And there’s much more of what you can observe!

How does the usual schedule look like?

  • You will spend at least 25 hours each week in the hospital, though the hours differ for each student. The specific number of hours depends on your mentors’ shifts and on your approach to the specialty. You might work for 30 or more hours per week. The hours spent in the hospital will differ daily according to the schedule and length of surgeries and other procedures. Always ask your mentor when and where you should meet him or her for the following day and you can also ask about their itinerary so you are prepared. 

If you are not sure whether this choice is suitable for you, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will discuss your experience and motivation and come up with the best solution for you.

Our Team


Photo Jan Šibík

MUDr. Vladimír Koucký

Doctor

Doctor


In my case, the essential decision about my career was whether to choose the surgical or non-surgical specialty. To have the possibility to influence one's health condition literally by your own hands and to see the positive or negative outcome of your work in a relatively short period of time were one of the dominant factors that made me decide for surgery. The anatomy of the neck, head and skull base are fascinating. Our specialty deals with a relatively small space where are the essential functions and senses like breathing, swallowing, hearing, balance, smell or voice. It is a field where you can work with diagnostic and imaging methods of endoscopic approaches. It is a specialty where you can work in super-specialized centers, outpatient departments, or perform surgeries like endoscopies, microsurgeries of the ear, skull base surgeries and large resections and reconstructive operations in oncological patients. And there is so much more.

Why did I become a healthcare professional?

Ever since I was a child, I told everybody I wanted to be a doctor. There was no rational reason behind at that time which I could remember. I was always interested in biomedical and social sciences, and medicine is the ideal field to fuse those two. It combines the understanding of pathophysiological processes in the human body with the art of communication with people in various and often very sensitive situations. Medicine offers unlimited research possibilities, but the discoveries come with the never-ending pressure of being up-to-date concerning your knowledge about the latest treatment options, methods, and procedures. Last but not least, one of the most crucial aspects of this profession to me is the humanity. 

The anatomy of the neck, head and skull base are fascinating. Our specialty deals with a relatively small space where are the essential functions and senses like breathing, swallowing, hearing, balance, smell or voice. It is a field where you can work with diagnostic and imaging methods of endoscopic approaches. It is a specialty where you can work in super-specialized centers, outpatient departments, or perform surgeries like endoscopies, microsurgeries of the ear, skull base surgeries and large resections and reconstructive operations in oncological patients. And there is so much more.

What do I love the most about my specialty?

I like to combine the work at the specialized center with my experimental laboratory research. I feel I gain a slightly different point of view on the cases I come across on a daily basis thanks to this focus. I enjoy the work at our center because of the variety of the specialties. You have the chance to examine by endoscopic tools and ultrasound your patient in detail and in case of the surgical treatment indication you can see the results of your work very early.

The influence of our care has in most of the cases positive consequences, and we are happy together with the patient. A "bitter-sweet" type of our specialty is the care for the oncological patient as with our surgical treatment the way of the patient to improve his condition begins, and we are not sure yet about its success. Both, the favorable and unfavorable results are a daily bread of your future job, and you need to learn how to cope with it and how to communicate it towards your patients. Altogether, it creates a very satisfying part of your professional life.

What can you see by shadowing our team?

The ENT and Head and Neck Surgery Specialized Center is the biggest center of its kind in the Czech Republic, where we provide the specialized and super-specialized care. You will see the pre-operative, operative and post-operative care in the broad spectrum of cases including the high volume of rare ones that you cannot see anywhere else. We perform the surgeries every day at 4 ORs, so there is so much to see and discover. Apart from the regular cases, you can shadow our teams while performing complex endoscopic surgeries of nasal cavity and larynx, salivary glands, cochlear implants and so on. In the outpatient department and ambulant care, you can observe the advanced diagnostic and examination methods and procedures. Our center focuses on the problematics of the oncological cases, thus you can see the whole process of diagnostics of a patient with the malignant condition, surgical treatment, comprehensive post-operative care leading to the release of the patient.

My typical workday starts around 7 am when I come to check my patients. At 7.30 the morning meeting begins where the cases from the previous day and night are discussed as well as the surgery and outpatient department plans for the day and our duties. The surgical program starts around 8.30 am and finishes at 3 pm. The same way time wise work the different outpatient departments and the super-specialized departments such as otosurgery, endocrine surgery or oncological ones are open a few days per week. That means that we as doctors have various duties throughout the day - operations, outpatient departments, our patients, and the ones coming to the department needing the acute care, too. At 3 pm we have the afternoon meeting to plan the next day, discuss the more complicated cases and other eventualities that can arise during the daily work.

Apart from being a healthcare professional...

I like traveling and hiking. Every year a try to travel for several weeks in a far away country. From sports, I play soccer the most. I love to play board games, and I cannot resist to science fiction or fantasy in every form. Last but not least, gastronomy and having a good drink with friends is a great way to spend time in Prague where is plenty of options.

Photo Jan Šibík

MUDr. Jan Lazák

Doctor

Doctor


My favorite professor of Anatomy at the university worked at that time in the University Hospital in Motol in the ENT and Head and Neck Surgery Specialized Center for Adults and thanks to his influence and motivation I began to be interested in this specialty, too. I met him again during my uni internship in my 4th year. What truly amazed me back then was the atmosphere of the specialized center, the methods and procedures they performed and the people working there. And now when I work here, it feels exactly the same way. 

Why did I become a healthcare professional?

I inclined towards the idea of becoming a doctor ever since I was a child as I grew up in the hospital environment among healthcare professionals. My grandpa was a GP, and my grandma was a dental technician, my parents both worked at the hospital as radiology assistants. But I would not say it was a clear path for me at that time. At grammar school, I hesitated between studying law or medicine and in the final year I decided for medicine. I was lucky enough to get and took the whole university studies as a personal challenge. In the second year when I took part in the hospital internship where my parents worked, I became confident that this was the right career choice.

We cooperate with plastic surgeons, neurosurgeons and many other colleagues from different specialties within the hospital. The specifics of our center is the focus on adult patients and super-specialized methods and procedures and sepcifically oncological conditions.

What do I love the most about my specialty?

What I really love about my work is its variety and the broad spectrum of all of the types of interventions we do from small to the most difficult ones. We provide the super-specialized care to our patients as the only center in the country, and everybody can find what interests him or her the most including the Ph.D. or research, and we have the support from the center's management. Another not less important part of my job are my colleagues. We have an excellent group of professionals and a great atmosphere at our workplace. You do not need to be afraid to ask for professional advice, and we have the supervision during the whole time. Our more experienced colleagues are here always for us to consult the case.

What can you see by shadowing our team?

My workday starts around 7 am when I visit my patients either at the ICU, I. Inpatient Unit or II. Inpatient Unit to examine them and check their results to make sure everything goes as planned. At 7.30 the morning meeting of the whole center starts, and we talk about the previous shift as well as the plan of the surgeries for the day. After the meeting, the regular day begins which usually means a combination of different tasks - surgeries, outpatient departments or consultations in the ENT specialty in various departments. I can work in the outpatient department where we treat the typical patient cases most often sent by their GP or local ENT specialist or even the hospital's ER if it is a trauma case. In the super-specialized centers, we take care of more rare cases depending on each department. To name a few, you can see the cases of such as nasal polyposis, rhinosinusitis, tumors in the nasal cavity, endoscopic surgeries, post-operative care, biopsies, various types of ear surgeries, complicated kind of skull base surgeries that can last for several hours and so on.

Another part of my workplace is the OR. Before the surgery starts, I usually have time to meet and check the patient. As a doctor before the specialty attestation, I can perform smaller surgeries under the supervision of my experienced colleagues such as tonsillectomies, removals of the lobes of the thyroid glands, various types of extirpations of skin tumors and so on, interventions in local anesthesia, laser surgeries of nasal mucotomy and other.

Apart from being a healthcare professional...

The biggest passion in my free time is definitely music. I play guitar and like everything from rock to heavy metal. I am interested in cars, politics, and architecture, too.

Photo Jan Šibík

MUDr. Simona Maléřová

Doctor

Doctor


At our specialized center, we provide the comprehensive treatment of diseases in the ENT and Head and Neck Surgery fields. What I like about it is how they vary so much and complement each other in the surgical, out-patient, and in-patient treatment and intensive care. Last but not least, we cooperate with many different specialties such as plastic surgery, neurosurgery, or neurology because of the areas we focus on. I am glad to work as my job is not stereotypical and I can learn every day.

Why did I become a healthcare professional?

The reason why I have become a healthcare professional hasn't changed throughout the years. My motivation was the will to work with people, to help by what you do, and to learn continuously. So that is still valid today. In my opinion, doctors are ones of the few who are lucky enough to do a profession that brings you satisfaction and joy every day.

At our specialized center, you will experience a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. We treat our students and young colleagues the best way we can so we hope you will like our daily tasks and the specialties we focus on. We look forward to working with you.

What do I love the most about my specialty?

We have a great group of people with whom it is a pleasure to work. The surgical part of the job is beyond exciting. We also take care of our patients in the super-specialized centers and outpatient wards. To the super-specialized out-patient departments come patients for regular check-ups or for being diagnosed or for treatment procedures, including smaller surgeries in local anesthesia.

To sum up, I like everything about my job as it makes sense to me. You cannot be a good doctor without love towards this profession and to what you do every day.

What can you see by shadowing our team?

My typical day starts with the visit of my patients, examination and a quick check of their latest results. Then at 7.30, we have our morning meeting with all my colleagues from the specialized center. We can talk through what happened during the previous hours and what is planned in the operating schedule for the day. After the meeting, everybody starts at the part of the specialized center where he or she is assigned to. It can be the work at the outpatient departments where we focus on oncological cases, patients after endocrinological surgery or patients suffering from hearing disorders correcting their hearing aids and many others. We also take care and check the cases of salivary glands disorders, swallowing disorders, or work on the rehabilitation of voice with people who have voice prostheses.

A part of our center consists of the ICU and I. and II. Inpatient Units with 66 beds where we have mainly patients after surgical treatment. We have 4 Operating Rooms where we perform around 17 surgeries per day. When I work at the OR, I cooperate with my more experienced colleagues on major surgeries, and I perform the minor ones on my own. You may witness head and neck oncological surgeries, operation of the thyroid and parathyroid glands, total laryngectomy, implanting of the hearing aids, and many other forms of procedures and treatment.

Apart from being a healthcare professional...

I love music, and I go to a concert every now and then. I also do enjoy cooking and eating. That is what we share as a hobby with my husband smile

My motto...

Calm mind, gentle hands.

Photo Jan Šibík

MUDr. Štěpán Novák

Doctor

Doctor


I have always admired surgical fields. One of the most significant advantages is to solve the patient's problem quickly and see the results of your work almost instantly. Every surgery is unique taking into account the expectations of your patient, anatomical variations or different post-operative healing process. That is why the stereotype can hardly occur, and you need to improve every day in your profession.

Why did I become a healthcare professional?

Both of my parents were dentists and worked in the same hospital in Prague. Their personal stories and also the way they talked about their profession inspired me since my childhood. At grammar school, I liked biology and considered the field of medicine to be my challenge. Another option was to study law, but I hesitated due to the possibility of an ethical dilemma. I have always seen a profound sense in helping other people. That is why I decided to pursue my career in medicine. I think of healthcare as of a continually developing area that can hardly be stereotypical. It is necessary to seek new information and methods that stimulate oneself mentally on a daily basis. The doctor-patient communication is an asset of this profession. 

I get excited for the ENT and head and neck surgery in the 4th year of medical school during an internship. I was interested in the head and neck surgery as well as with the outpatient care with an extensive differential diagnostics. What I appreciated at that time, too, were excellent relationships among the professionals working at this specialized center. Until now I consider it one of the most important factors in my job.

What do I love the most about my specialty?

What I like about my job are the people I work with. We have great relationships with my colleagues, and I can ask whenever the more experienced doctors on their opinion and solution of medical problems I do encounter. They always find their time to give us the advice in a friendly but qualified manner. We have great support from our specialized center's leadership in every aspect of our work including taking part in international conferences, international internships, grants and so on.

Another part that I do enjoy are the interesting surgeries we perform. The spectrum of our work mainly in head and neck surgery is vast and requires different surgical techniques. We perform relatively basic surgical procedures in the ENT area as tonsillectomies, surgeries of nose and ears and difficult even several hours lasting surgeries of oncological patients in head and neck areas. What is fantastic about our specialized center is the level of experience and skills of my older colleague as there is no better place in the country where you could learn. And last but not least in cooperation with our colleagues from Neurosurgery, we established the sub-specialized center of skull base surgery. 

What can you see by shadowing our team?

You will see with me the patients at the OR where I will explain to you the complexity of the case and how the surgery is carried out and why. Right after surgery, you have the possibility of witnessing how the patient feels including the possible post-operative complications that can occur. In the outpatient department, you can observe the variety of the ENT cases and the common diagnoses. What is essential for you to realize for your future profession is also the logic behind the diagnostic and therapeutical approach that we will discuss in the cases of oncological patients. And last but not least, you can ask me about the possibilities of Ph.D. studies in the Czech Republic, too.

Apart from being a healthcare professional...

I like to do sports, especially beach volleyball, tennis, and biking.

My motto

 "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right.” Henry Ford

Photogallery

LOVE WHAT YOU DO WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT