With Gratitude

Douglas D. Backous, MD, (second from left) with his family in Nashville, Tennessee, at the AAO-HNSF 2023 Annual Meeting & OTO Experience.As I write this final column as your AAO-HNS/F President, I would like to express my gratitude for the true privilege of serving our membership and staff, for the trust you all put in me to lead this year, and for the grace given to me to learn the job “on the fly” as the year progressed.

Highlights from this year include:

• The choice of Rahul K. Shah, MD, MBA, as our incoming AAO-HNS/F Executive Vice President and CEO
• Clearly redefining the roles of our four Sections and Board of Governors (BOG) to ensure strength in their autonomy and power in their collaboration as they advise the Academy’s Board of Directors
• Recognizing the first step in advancing the stature of members who practice otolaryngology while managing their own disabilities
• Approving Position Statements for on-call compensation and pay equity and opportunity for women in otolaryngology
• Launching the Otolaryngology Core Curriculum and the Otolaryngology Private Practice Section
• Hosting the first spring OTO FORUM to address the business of medicine
• Establishing an Environmental Sustainability Task Force to provide input for the upcoming strategic planning process
• Successfully representing our specialty in several regulatory and legislative challenges
• Strengthening our presence with other international otolaryngology societies.

All of this great work was done in strict adherence to our AAO-HNS/F Bylaws with oversight from the dedicated Boards of Directors.

In preparation for this column, I invested some time to better understand what gratitude means. The best definition I found was:

Gratitude is the expression of appreciation for the good things in your life. It is an approach to doing something, sustenance that strengthens you, and the intent behind your actions. Gratitude can help build and maintain relationships with others, resulting in hope, life satisfaction, and more proactive behaviors toward others.

University of California, Davis, psychology professor and gratitude researcher Robert A. Emmons, PhD, proposes that the affirmation of the good things we receive and acknowledgment of the role other people play in providing our lives with goodness are key components in practicing gratitude. Research links expressing gratitude with benefits like strengthening the immune system, improving sleep patterns, feeling optimistic, experiencing more joy and pleasure, being more helpful and generous, and feeling less lonely and isolated.¹ In a time in history when healthcare is stressful and constantly changing, expressing gratitude carries the potential for improved wellness for all of us.

My professional compass while serving the Academy membership this year was a monthly review of the AAO-HNS/F Mission Statement, which reads, "We engage our members and help them achieve excellence and provide high-quality, evidence-informed, and equitable ear, nose, and throat care through professional and public education, research, and health policy advocacy."

I remain impressed that professionally the Academy provides each of us with the platform to achieve a level of joy that comes from successfully helping patients through our mission.

On a personal level, each of us defines joy in our own meaningful way. I find professional joy when my work aligns with my personal mission and call to service through my faith. My hope is that, as we continue to work together, the members of our Academy can expand each other’s ability to foster joy in our professional lives. 

Whether by caring for patients, conducting important research, addressing healthcare disparities in our country and worldwide, through collaboration and innovation, or by positively impacting the communities we serve through the patients we see and the people we never meet who, nevertheless, feel the benefits of our work, I believe the intent of our collective membership is to support each other in these pursuits. George Pocock’s achievements as highlighted in The Boys in the Boat apply to us as well: If we achieve “swing” as an Academy, our collective power to help patients, each other, and ensure that our specialty thrives is beyond what any of us can imagine.

I realize that my service this year is built on the great work done by leaders before me. My hope is that my effort creates opportunities for leaders after me to keep our Academy relevant and valuable to our society. To the current AAO-HNS/F Boards of Directors, Section chairs, BOG, CEO/EVP Search Committee, Senior Leadership Team and staff of the Academy, thank you. In James C. Denneny III, MD, I found an inspiring and deeply committed partner and mentor. Thank you, Jim, for this year and for all you have done for our membership over the past 30-plus years in service to the Academy, with the last 10 years as our EVP and CEO. The wise counsel I received from other trusted colleagues helped me immeasurably as well.

Finally, I express my gratitude, thanks, and love to my family. I was touched when they all flew to Nashville to be part of my installation as President last year (photo above). I was forever changed when my son reminded me that the incredible career I continue to enjoy and the journey to get here belonged to all of us as a family. The sacrifices our loved ones endure so we can take care of patients, go to the hospital late at night, write grants, travel and present papers, and work to advance the specialty is weighed against the finite commodity of time. Thank you, Julie, Taylor, Jonathan, Lindsey, and Kristin.

As we gather this month in Miami Beach, Florida, for the AAO-HNSF 2024 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, I look forward to meeting new friends and connecting with long-time colleagues. I am blessed with great people and good things in my life. Serving this year as your President strengthened me at times when I struggled in other areas of my career. I have been able to get to know many new people and have deepened relationships with others that I have known for many years.

My intent was to make our Academy more relevant to all of us. I see our Academy as a source of hope during trying times in our country. Personal and professional joy and satisfaction are evident in my life, and I hope they are in yours.

I move past this year of service, committed to doing my part to support both Troy D. Woodard, MD, our next President, and Dr. Shah, as he launches his next career phase as our new EVP/CEO. 

Truly, together we are one. Thank you.

Reference

1. Emmons, R. A., & Mishra, A. (2012). Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know, what we need to know. In Sheldon, K., Kashdan, T., & Steger, M.F. (Eds.) Designing the future of positive psychology: Taking stock and moving forward. New York: Oxford University Press.