J. Thomas Roland Jr., MD

From the first day I stepped into NYU Langone as a fourth-year medical student and felt the energy, I knew this was where I wanted to train. That was in 1982, and I’ve been here ever since.

I was drawn to surgery early in my career. I eventually decided on otolaryngology because I’ve always had the patience for the technical detail. I enjoy quickly identifying a problem and carrying out a plan to fix it. My particular special interest is in skull base surgery and hearing restoration, which is now done through small keyhole openings to remove benign and cancerous tumors with minimally invasive techniques. Enabling a person to hear through the use of cochlear and auditory brainstem implants is a uniquely special experience.

I value the contributions of everyone who cares for a patient, from his or her family to the surgeons, therapists, and audiologists. A child with hearing loss, for example, needs all of us to work together to achieve the best possible outcome. 

I am most proud of our collaborative approach at the NYU Langone Cochlear Implant Center, one of the largest and most productive of its kind in the world.