Meet Rachelle Wareham, MD, Pediatric Otolaryngologist

I moved here from California and came across the position by word of mouth—and it sounded way too good not to look into! I knew Connecticut Children’s had a great reputation and that the surrounding Westport, CT area is a great place to raise a family. When I learned about the opportunity to build an ear, nose and throat practice at Connecticut Children’s Specialty Care Center in Westport, my family and I were in! 

It’s going great and I love being able to build something from the ground up. Already, I’m seeing patients from all walks of life and for all types of reasons. There really is a big variety and a great patient population out here. Plus, I love the cold!
 

2. What inspired you to become a pediatric ENT—and what’s the best part?

It all started back in medical school. The first big decision was choosing to pursue surgery or non-surgery. During my general surgery rotation, I discovered I wanted to be a surgeon. Then, when I needed to pick a specialty, I had the chance to rotate through different ENT programs.

Everywhere I went, the ENT teams really stood out. They were happy in their careers, got to do amazing procedures and worked with incredible technology. Finally, when it came to choosing between adults or kids, I had made my decision on the second day of ENT residency: I just knew I loved working with kids.

The best part of being a pediatric otolaryngologist is being able to do some relatively small and low-risk procedures that make a huge difference on a child’s quality of life.

3. What do you want families to know about your philosophy or approach to care?

I always tell parents I believe in and practice evidence-based care—it’s always in the back of my mind. But it’s also important to know that medicine is not a strict rule book. In pediatric ENT, there’s often room for shared decision-making, and my goal is to strike a balance between following guidelines and addressing the concerns that matter most to parents. The sole focus is always on what will truly help a child live their best life.

Medicine is an art and like every piece of artwork, every child is unique. I’m always open to working together to find the best path forward for each individual child.

4. Please share an experience from your career that has left a lasting impression on you.

There are a few patients who have left a lasting impression on me for different reasons. Years ago, I saw a child with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP), a condition you’re born with that causes growths on the larynx and sometimes down the trachea. It’s not curable, but treatable with surgery and certain medications. 

Some kids with RRP have had to undergo hundreds of bronchoscopy procedures just to keep their airways open. But over the past decade, things have changed a lot, thanks to the HPV vaccine, Gardasil. HPV types 11, 16, and 18 were often linked to respiratory disease. Since the vaccine became more widely used, I’ve seen a huge drop in RRP cases—I actually haven’t seen a single child with RRP in the last 10 years.

 

I get a lot of questions about ear infections and sleep apnea. So I try to break it down this way: 

Ear Infections:
Ear infections are common in young kids, and there’s a good reason for that. Their eustachian tubes, the “canal” that connects the ears to the back of the throat, are still small and developing. This means it’s easier for fluid to build up, and because kids get sick a lot more often than adults do, they get a good amount of ear infections.

We’re here to help, whether it’s offering reassurance or discussing alternative treatment options like ear tube surgery if antibiotics aren’t working well. A lot of parents worry that infection after infection will cause permanent hearing loss, but that’s not the case. Ear infections are a childhood rite of passage—and most kids outgrow them. 

Snoring & Sleep Apnea:
Snoring is part of a whole spectrum of sleep-related breathing issues. About 10% of kids snore and it’s usually harmless. But obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is different—it’s not normal and can affect a child’s ability to focus, learn, and function during the day. If a child has trouble with sleep quality or struggles in the classroom, it’s something we take seriously. That’s where a sleep study would come in.

Interestingly, the symptoms of OSA and ADHD can look very similar, and some parents wonder if their child has one when it’s actually the other. That’s why it’s important to evaluate sleep health just as much as anything else.

6. What are some of the “surprising” or “uncommon” reasons you’d see a pediatric ENT?

Sometimes, kids can get lumps or masses in the neck, like cysts. It’s not as common as other ENT issues, but we still do see them regularly. One of the more well-known conditions is branchial cleft cysts—these are usually benign and not something to worry about.

There’s also some crossover with other specialties, especially when it comes to voice and vocal cord issues. Most of the time, when a child has a voice problem, it turns out to be something harmless like a vocal nodule. Voice problems are common in kids who love to talk, yell, or scream on the playground. 

To diagnose vocal nodules, we do a quick procedure to take a closer look at the vocal cords. We do this in our Westport Specialty Care Center. Other factors like allergies, postnasal drip, or acid reflux can also contribute to voice changes, so we take those into account as well

7. Do you have any career mentors or anyone you look up to?

I’ve had several great mentors, but one of the most impactful was my residency program director, Dr. Mark Rowe (CA). I later had the privilege of being his partner for over 10 years. His dedication to patient care was remarkable, and he was the hardest-working person I’ve ever known—seeing more patients than anyone I had ever met. He set the bar incredibly high, and for that I’m grateful.

8. Tell us a fun fact about yourself. 

I love art—especially painting. When I travel or if I go to conferences, I take some watercolors with me, and I just paint what I see and come back, and then my husband tries to frame them.