AAO-HNSF 2023 Featured Country: India

For decades the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery has selected and honored four countries or territories at the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO Experience to showcase country-specific contributions to the otolaryngology specialty. Along with Canada, Dominican Republic, and the United Arab Emirates, we are proud to celebrate India as one of the 2023 Featured Countries. We applaud the Indian Academy of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (IAOHNS), one of the AAO-HNS's International Corresponding Societies, for helping to bridge the Indian and otolaryngology communities worldwide. Please help us welcome our Indian colleagues to Nashville, Tennessee, where they will be honored at the International Advisory Board General Assembly on Monday, October 2. 

Indian Academy of Otorhinolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery

(Content submitted by IAOHNS) 

The Indian Academy of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (IAOHNS) is a scientific national academy that was established in 2014 to address all the academic demands of ENT surgeons across the Indian subcontinent. IAOHNS was conceptualized by Professor Mohan Kameswaran, its founding president, in a manner similar to the origins of the prestigious AAO-HNSF and British Association. Its main mission is to be the scientific pedestal that can bridge the different ENT subspecialties in India and link various academies across the world, thereby supporting and encouraging the worldwide exchange of clinical information and scientific studies in otorhinolaryngology. 

IAOHNS today is comprised of a well-structured administrative setup, with a Board of Governors, an Executive Committee, and its Officers who coordinate the various certified scientific events across the country in a hassle-free way. IAOHNS has been registered as an affiliate member under the International Federation of Otorhinolaryngological Societies (IFOS) and is a regular participant in the scientific deliberations of IFOS. IAOHNS has also been given special recognition at the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting and British Academic Conference of Otolaryngology (BACO) International in the recent past, having sent regular delegations of its members to these prestigious conferences.

The Indian Academy today stands as a platform for dissemination of knowledge and expertise, with special focus on fostering academic excellence across the country. It also strives to help young ENT specialists and postgraduate trainees increase their knowledge base through various instructional courses, workshops, and mentorships programs. Of note, IAOHNS has a popular funded and certified mentorship program run by eminent senior ENT faculties to guide young ENT surgeons in about 20 centers across the country. Currently mentorship programs are available in neurotology, balance disorders, implantation otology, rhinology, facial plastic surgery, pediatric otolaryngology, head and neck cancer surgery, phonosurgery, and sleep medicine.

Over the past decade, subcommittees of the Indian Academy have meticulously worked on disseminating knowledge regarding the latest developments for managing various pathologies, while following an evidence-based protocol catering to Indian clinical practice. This information is freely circulated to all members and is available for download from its official website www.iaohns.com.

Throughout COVID-19 times, IAOHNS was actively in touch with its ENT community, providing vital practice guidelines for ENT surgeons to restart their clinical and surgical practices. This practice was robust, especially while the second wave, due to the Delta variant, triggered the devastating epidemic of mucormycosis within the pandemic across the Indian subcontinent. ENT surgeons were actively engaged and worked diligently to control this nemesis. IAOHNS continued to organize periodic webinars on various timely topics as part of its continuous professional development program during the COVID-19 era. This was a resounding success as it virtually connected clinicians who were separated across the vast country and triggered these scientific minds during those difficult times.

The Indian system of practice has for long been focused on promoting the skill of surgical learning but has been lagging behind in terms of adequate research, registries, and national audits, thereby making less contributions to world literature. In the present day of evidence-based medicine, documentation and registry have become mandatory, thus changing the mindset of Indian clinicians toward pursuing quality research through well-structured studies. The Indian Academy inspires young minds to start empirical research by organizing research methodology and biostatistics workshops and by proposing to fund proper research projects under the supervision of the National Ethical Research Board. Successful dissemination of such work has now become possible as IAOHNS contributes to world literature via its official indexed journal, Annals of Indian Academy of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, published by Wolter Kluwer’s Medknow. IAOHNS today has become a regulatory body for ENT in India with various subspecialty bodies that encourage scientific research and experimental work to promote the development of science in their respective fields and benefit the public at large.

IAOHNS has been able to regularly conduct academically enriching annual conferences and midterm meetings that are a great attraction for early-career otolaryngologists of India and in neighboring countries. The three-day annual meeting of IAOHNS comprises preconference surgical workshops, instructional courses, panel discussions, medical symposia, "how I do it" sessions, free papers and poster sessions—all of which are well received by the participants who hail the conference as an important education opportunity and a great networking experience. Also at the annual convention, IAOHNS awards honorary fellowships to ENT surgeons of repute from within India and to eminent guest faculty from abroad.

IAOHNS is on a quest to increase and improve its scientific activities in this post-COVID-19 era, with the aim to encourage and guide more early-career ENT doctors across the country, which will make this society more vibrant and lay the foundation for reaching greater heights in the future.

It is indeed a prestigious occasion for India to be honored as a featured country at the upcoming AAO-HNSF 2023 Annual Meeting & OTO Experience in Nashville, Tennessee, September 30 - October 4. This recognition has triggered immense interest among the Indian ENT community. On behalf of IAOHNS, a large contingent of Indian ENT doctors eagerly looks forward to participate in this exciting event, celebrate the camaraderie, and share their experiences with their peers from across the globe.