Ryan Belcher, MD, assistant professor Pediatric Otolaryngology at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, has been named by Nashville Business Journal to the 2021 class of 40 under 40.
The Nashville Business Journal’s annual 40 under 40 list, which began in 2009, recognizes young professionals in Music City who are making a difference in their business and community before the age of 40.
Belcher joined Children’s Hospital in August 2019 after completing a yearlong fellowship with the Pediatric Department of Otolaryngology.
With his focus and commitment to global health, the accolade acknowledges his work in this area.
Over the last year he has served on Nashville’s Siloam Health Next Generation board. Siloam Health is a nonprofit health care organization that provides health care services to Nashville’s uninsured, underserved, and culturally marginalized. During his time in the Global Health Scholars Program at Emory University in Atlanta, Belcher became invested in educating and training otolaryngology residents in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After spending some time there, he has committed to recurring education mission trips to Ethiopia and Kenya throughout his career.
“It is an amazing honor to be included in Nashville Business Journal’s 40 under 40. It would be impossible to even be considered for this honor without our amazing pediatric otolaryngology staff at Vanderbilt Children’s, including the nurses, clinic managers, surgery staff, surgeons, and countless others that make it a joy to come to work,” Belcher said.
“In the history of the United States, health care has never been considered a ‘business’ more than now. Even with that emphasis on business, I truly believe if you are taking great care of your patients to the best of your abilities then the ‘business’ portion works itself out.”
Belcher’s clinical and surgical expertise focuses on pediatric thyroids, head and neck cancer and masses, cleft lip/palate along with other craniofacial disorders, velopharyngeal dysfunction, and other general areas of pediatric otolaryngology. He is currently working toward his master’s degree in Public Health with a focus on Global Health at Vanderbilt University with plans to graduate in May.
Belcher earned his Bachelor of Science in biology at the University of Arkansas, remaining there to get his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He did a residency with a global health track at the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine.
He is member of several committees for the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, including pediatric otolaryngology and humanitarian efforts.
He is also a member of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association and Tennessee Public Health Association.