The Changing Face of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery

The Changing Face of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery

As an organization representative of all otolaryngologists, we strive to encourage an atmosphere of inclusion for all. The AAO-HNS and its Foundation are charged with educating and promoting diversity and inclusion in all its forms including gender, race, religion, socioeconomic status, disability, geographic location, sexual orientation, age, and culture within our membership and especially in our leadership.  The AAO-HNSF is committed to establishing programs that support these goals in an effort to build a culture that will attract the best and brightest physicians to our specialty, increase the research being conducted by a diverse population of researchers, foster the best educational exchange, and enhancing patient care.

As our world and our community change and evolve, our specialty continues to grow and progress, and in 2011 our development efforts will take a look at the changing face of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.

This new campaign, The Changing Face of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, will allow us to "fund" our charge of inclusion and create the financial infrastructure for establishing the programs that support and attract the best and the brightest regardless of gender, race, age, or geographic location.  Four areas will be highlighted in the campaign, and programs under each will be endowed.

Diversity, Women in Otolaryngology, Residents and Young Physicians, and International

Diversity:

The Diversity Endowment will provide a critical base of funding for underserved minorities to create programs that facilitate education about inclusion, place a greater emphasis on inclusion, and encourage exploration of our specialty by medical students everywhere. This new endowment, when fully funded, will provide a perpetual stream of resources to support diversity projects, including:

• Annual grant awards for medical rotations in otolaryngology
• Medical Student Grants for the Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO and the Board of Governors Meetings
• Resident Leadership Grants for Annual Meeting, Board of Governors Meetings, and the Joint Surgical Advocacy Conference
• Distinguished Research prizes for meritorious medical student or resident papers from under-represented minority researchers
• Centralized Otolaryngology Research Efforts (CORE)  grant funding for research in areas related to healthcare disparities that have an impact on an under-represented patient populations, and/or to support projects of young investigators from under-represented minorities
• Increased marketing outreach to Training Program Directors and to Medical Programs to encourage awareness of the specialty, its commitment to diversity, and the AAO-HNS/F

Women in Otolaryngology:  

The Women in Otolaryngology Endowment, established in 2010 and already having raised more than  half a million dollars, will continue fundraising  efforts to support five key areas identified as vitally important to women in otolaryngology:

• career development of women otolaryngologists—head and neck surgeons, whether private, academic, or military,
• actionable research that affects how women are integrated into mainstream otolaryngology,
• promotion of work/life integration (an issue facing all ORLs, of concern especially to our younger female members),
• leadership development and recognition,
• the engagement of notable speakers relevant to women's needs and interests for AAO-HNS/F WIO Section activities.

Residents and Young Physicians:

Young Physicians and residents are the future of the otolarnygology community.  The Future Leaders Endowment will provide programs that enhance leadership development for young otolaryngologists and cultivate future AAO-HNS/F leaders, including:

• Provide an annual Board of Governors (BOG) Leadership Institute Scholarship to facilitate young physicians' engagement in a formal AAO-HNS/F leadership training program
• Award annual Resident Leadership Grants to the Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO and/or the BOG Spring Meetings/Joint Surgical Advocacy Conference (JSAC)

International:

With the momentum of 2010, International Visiting Scholarships (IVS) will continue to be endowed.  The important grants have the ability to change the lives of patients in developing countries drastically.  IVS grants are awarded annually to a deserving international otolaryngologist; they foster educational exchange between domestic otolaryngologist—head and neck surgeons and their counterparts around the globe. These grants provide meritorious international otolaryngologist the opportunity to:

• Participate in the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO
• Take part in a two-week observership at a U.S. Center of Excellence
• Build meaningful, ongoing relations with U.S. counterparts
• Receive a one-year complimentary subscription to Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery

These endowments will provide a critical base of funding for programs to facilitate education and research and place greater emphasis on inclusion.  As a specialty, we face many future workforce challenges, including a decreasing workforce, an aging population, and increased demands for otolaryngologic care.  These all underscore the importance of assuring a specialty that is welcoming to all through programs that support The Changing Face of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.

For more information or to become involved with The Changing Face of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery campaign email development@entnet.org.

Ron Sallerson
Senior Director, Development & Marketing
American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
1650 Diagonal Road, Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 703.535.3775
Email: rsallerson@entnet.org