Nirmal Thapa, M.D.

Dr. Nirmal Thapa was born and raised in Nepal, where he witnessed firsthand the burden of ear disease and hearing loss among children and classmates. In rural Nepal, limited access to medical care and antibiotics contributes to a high prevalence of ear infections and hearing impairment. These early experiences inspired him to dedicate his life to becoming an ear specialist and improving care for patients with ear disorders.

Dr. Thapa earned a scholarship for residency training and chose Shanghai Eye and ENT Hospital at Fudan University in China—a leading specialty hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School. During his residency, he gained extensive experience managing complex ear conditions in both children and adults.

After completing his training, Dr. Thapa returned to Nepal and worked for two years as a general ENT surgeon before joining the Ear Center at Green Pastures Hospital, a facility focused on challenging ear problems. There, he collaborated closely with Dr. Michael C.F. Smith, a senior ear surgeon from the United Kingdom, for over four years. Together, they performed more than 1,000 ear surgeries. This role allowed Dr. Thapa to fulfill his childhood dream of helping patients with ear disease and make a lasting impact on the lives of children and adults in his home country.

In 2020, Dr. Thapa joined the University of Miami Ear Institute, where he completed a two-year fellowship in Advanced Otology and Neurotology. During this time, he trained under internationally recognized otologic surgeons—Drs. Telischi, Angeli, Hoffer, Dinh, and Eshraghi—further refining his expertise in complex ear and lateral skull base surgery.

Dr. Thapa provides care for both adult and pediatric patients. His clinical and surgical expertise spans the full spectrum of ear and skull-based disorders. He specializes in the management of chronic ear infections, cholesteatoma, otosclerosis, and advanced hearing restoration procedures, including: cochlear implants, bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHA), and other implantable hearing devices and acoustic neuroma.

His surgical skills include tympanoplasty, mastoidectomy, ossiculoplasty, stapedectomy, cochlear implant, BAHA, acoustic neuroma and complex skull base surgery.

In addition, Dr. Thapa treats conditions such as vertigo, Ménière’s disease, tinnitus, encephaloceles, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks, and other ear and skull base tumors.

Outside of medicine, Dr. Thapa enjoys spending time with his wife and their two children. He is passionate about soccer, dancing, and dragon boat racing, and has earned numerous awards in these activities.

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Thapa to our faculty and to have him share his extensive expertise in ear surgery with our community.

MY AREAS OF FOCUS:

Adult and pediatric hearing loss, Adult and pediatric cochlear implant surgery, Adult and pediatric cholesteatoma