Holt Leadership Award Recipient Kayla Hicks, MD, on Leading by Example and Advocating Beyond the Clinic
Kayla Hicks, MD, chief resident in UNC OHNS, was surprised to learn she had received the Holt Leadership Award from the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.
The award recognizes residents who demonstrate exceptional leadership. For Hicks, that means servant leadership and leading by example. “Over the years I’ve gotten more flexible, relaxed and open to letting people do their own things and supporting them,” she says. When an issue arises, she is ready to jump in, while also trusting those around her to lead in their own right. “It’s more important to me to do the work and to lead by example,” she says. “Leadership starts with personal accountability and modeling the same standards you expect from others.”
Being a resident is demanding, but Hicks believes in finding purpose both inside and outside the program, particularly through advocating for healthcare access and recruitment from underserved communities. “I’m from rural Kentucky, where access to care and ability to afford care is not super common,” she says. That lived experience drove her to Washington, D.C., where she attended the American College of Surgeons Leadership and Advocacy Summit and met directly with members of Congress to discuss healthcare policy, rural access to care, and financial barriers to medical education. She emphasized that bringing more physicians from underserved backgrounds into medicine is one of the most effective ways to address healthcare shortages in those communities. For Hicks, advocacy is simply another way to care for patients, addressing the barriers that affect outcomes beyond the clinic walls.
She is also passionate about making advocacy more approachable for fellow trainees. Her podcast, From Clinic to Capitol Hill, introduces physicians and residents to healthcare policy work and how to get involved. She also led the keynote panel for the Section for Residents and Fellows (SRF) at AAO-HNS, where physician advocates shared their experiences and encouraged trainees to engage.
Hicks credits several UNC mentors for shaping her approach to medicine and leadership, especially Amelia Drake, MD, who taught her that holding on to kindness and empathy amid the demands of residency makes for a better provider. “Dr. Brown, Dr. Selleck, Dr. Dedmon, Dr. Thompson, Dr. Dillon, and Dr. Hackman have all been really incredible mentors throughout residency,” she says as well as Dr. Otteson, her mentor from medical school. Hicks graduates from the UNC OHNS residency program this summer and will begin fellowship training in neurotology at the University of Utah. To students from rural communities considering medicine, she offers this:
“You don’t need to be anything other than who you are, the world and society and medicine will benefit from you regardless.”
She plans to continue her advocacy work long term, serving patients both in and beyond the clinic.