Voices of Otolaryngology: Collaborate to Advocate and Innovate

On December 2, we officially launched our reimagined Academy podcast, “Voices of Otolaryngology.” The focus of this podcast is to provide a forum for our global otolaryngology community to hear the diverse voices that comprise our specialty and amplify them for members, patients, and communities around the world. We plan on having a monthly cadence of content for all members to access at your convenience.

The concept of this podcast series is to elevate and share the varied and strong voices of our specialty. The podcast seeks to find yet another way for us to connect members across borders and all practice types as well as stages of career to experience the perspectives of others and feel that camaraderie at all times and places.

We are excited to have a new podcast studio in the Academy headquarters to record audio and videos of members and guests to amplify your voices. We all have terrific solutions to the myriad problems facing us collectively and individually, and Voices of Otolaryngology will be a way to connect with you all on contentious issues, hot topics, and practice management, as well as just for kinship needed for our collective success.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing (e.g., in your car, exercising, while charting), whenever convenient for you, and whatever device you are using, you can listen to each new Voices of Otolaryngology episode as soon as they drop. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or YouTube.

What has been made clear to me early on in my position here is how strong our otolaryngology voices are and that was even more evident at the November American Medical Association (AMA) Interim House of Delegates (HOD) meeting that I attended alongside James C. Denneny III, MD. It was exciting to see the leadership of our specialty; with Bruce A. Scott, MD, AMA President, and Bobby Mukkamala, MD, AMA President-Elect, as well as otolaryngologists from across the country come together to create, review, and vote upon resolutions for the AMA to advance patient care. Our voices are powerful.

Importantly, I was excited to see about a dozen otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeons, led by our AMA delegates—Michael S. Goldrich, MD, Susan D. McCammon, MD, and Doug R. Myers, MD—working so diligently to ensure the AMA hears the voices of our otolaryngologists and facilitates the service to our patients. I also had the opportunity to talk with Shreya Mandava, MD, PGY-1 resident at the University of Michigan, and the AAO-HNS Section for Residents and Fellows-in-Training delegate to the AMA HOD. Listen to our discussion in the second episode of Voices of Otolaryngology titled "Can You Make a Difference?". I would be remiss to not acknowledge the herculean efforts of our Advocacy team led by Maura Farrell, Senior Director, Advocacy, and her colleague, Harry DeCabo, Director, Advocacy, who helped ensure alignment and adherence to processes to optimize the impact of our specialty at the AMA House of Delegates meeting.

Unfortunately, we all learned shortly after the AMA meeting of the new diagnosis of a grade-2 glioma brain tumor in Dr. Mukkamala. He is a highly involved member of the Academy and is a strong AAO-HNS supporter. He wrote an amazing piece in the AMA, which is very telling of his life’s philosophy of gratitude. Please keep Bobby and all those who are experiencing difficult medical and life challenges in our thoughts and prayers. We are a community, and we need to hear each other’s voices of support at times.

The author (left) visiting Dr. Setzen at his practice in Albany, New York, in November 2024.In my short time as EVP/CEO, I have already had many wonderful opportunities to connect with members. For me, it is equally important to walk in your shoes as well as hear your voices. I was thrilled to visit a couple of practices in November, including Albany ENT & Allergy Services, led by AAO-HNSF Past President Gavin Setzen, MD, and The Centers for Advanced ENT Care, led by AAO-HNS/F Board member Marc G. Dubin, MD.

The voices that I heard and what I witnessed during those two visits are resounding—patients and staff are so appreciative of the care you all deliver day in and day out. It was inspiring and invigorating to round in these practices and see respect and gratitude from our patients and interact with staff.

These in-person opportunities also ensure that I hear your experiences so that we can continue to work diligently on the issues that are top of mind and keep you awake at night. Collectively, we can make progress. From these visits, I posted two of my learnings on LinkedIn. I was so impressed by the concept of an urgent care center within the structural confines of an existing otolaryngology practice at Dr. Setzen’s practice and his dyad administrative partner, Drew Franklin; their data-driven approach is enviable and a key ingredient of their success.

Dr. Setzen presented this information at the inaugural OTO Forum in 2024, and it is that type of content and presentation you can expect at the 2025 OTO Forum, happening April 25–26, in Alexandria, Virginia. So we hope to see you there. Registration opens in January so be on the lookout for announcements in OTO News and the Bulletin and on social! I also shared on LinkedIn a key learning from Dr. Dubin’s journey that we must evolve our roles as physicians and our practices to remain relevant, contemporary, and viable. Practice and provider evolution is not optional, it is compulsory. (Look for an article from Dr. Dubin in the February issue of the Bulletin on the evolution of his practice as well as a podcast we recorded during our visit.)

Also, during my travels in November, it was great connecting with our academic otolaryngology community at the SUO/AADO/OPDO meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. This academic meeting of three societies was pulsing with innovation, excitement, and tangible approaches to drive medical education, academic medicine, and survive a changing future.

The SUO/AADO/OPDO meeting demonstrated the thoughtfulness of our academic leaders in how to best select, train, mentor, ally, and sponsor the future members and leaders of our specialty. Their commitment is inspiring, and their continued efforts and novel approaches ensure that the legacy and significance of our specialty will continue to lead. This meeting also gave me an opportunity to express gratitude to these stakeholder groups for their innovation, collaboration, and partnership with the Otolaryngology Core Curriculum, which continues to grow under the guidance of these volunteer leaders. The value of this offering is transformational in supporting the education of learners, ensuring a strong foundation of the core knowledge required for otolaryngology practices.

Members of the OCC Editorial Board met in Miami Beach, Florida at the 2024 Annual Meeting.

During my Academy update at the SUO/AADO/OPDO meeting, I made a plea and asked the group to help amplify the voices of the otolaryngology community and increase the specialty’s visibility on Capitol Hill and with key lawmakers through greater involvement with and contributions to our ENT PAC.* Wow—did they speak up—in 15 minutes, that group added another 40+ PAC investors! 

I want to extend that plea to all U.S.-based members; we need your participation as a PAC investor now more so than ever. We are currently hindered with our level of influence with only 2% of our total U.S. membership represented in the PAC. It is not the dollar amount that matters, it is your participation and involvement.  We need members to become PAC investors to elevate the importance of our federal legislative priorities that are supported by the PAC.

Our federal and state legislative agenda impacts us all and all of our patients—this is not just for academicians or private practitioners—the agenda is for our specialty, our practices, our patients, and our communities.

Thank you to Ken Kazahaya, MD, MBA, Mary T. Mitskavich, MD, and Douglas D. Reh, MD, who are newly elected leaders to help us strengthen our collective voice on Capitol Hill via the ENT PAC Board of Advisors.  

And there is no better time than now to become a PAC investor through our “First 50” Campaign. The “First 50” campaign, which launched January 1, is our effort to garner at least 50 ENT PAC donations of $1,000+ during the month of January. Reaching this goal would mean ENT PAC will have raised over $50,000 in one month to start the new year strong! Donate to the ENT PAC today*

Dr. Dubin (left) and the author visited Capitol Hill in December 2024 to advocate on behalf of the specialty.When we consider the impact of our voices in otolaryngology, I am reminded of our patients. It was refreshing and invigorating for me to see patients as a pediatric otolaryngologist in November, and it will be part of my monthly routine to ensure I am connected to our patients and families as a volunteer in clinic. There is nothing more energizing than providing care for our patients and that is an invigorating bond that we all share within this remarkable specialty—the reason we got into medicine and the impact we have on our communities.

As I continue learning and listening in this role as EVP/CEO, hearing new voices is so important. It was great hearing directly from Academy member William S. Slomka, MD, of ENT and Allergy Associates of Florida. He reached out concerned, as we all are, with the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule reduction in 2025; I learned from his stories about his practice setting and patients and we assure you this issue is at the top of our Academy’s federal legislative priority list.

There are many voices of otolaryngology—patients, our staff, and our members. How do I ensure we hear you? I have great help from the work of our Academy Business Units—Advocacy, Communications, Education, Finance, Information Technology, Meetings and Corporate Development, Membership and Global Affairs, and Research and Quality. The Business Units are terrific and greatly help to ensure we are in tune with our members’ needs. It is our collective goal that the Voices of Otolaryngology podcast is bidirectional, providing the platform and venue for our conversation together that will enable the AAO-HNS/F to further meet the needs of you and your practice in serving your patients and communities.

It’s always Day One at the Academy, and we strive to hear and serve your voice as we collaborate to advocate and innovate.

*Note: Contributions to ENT PAC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Contributions are voluntary, and all members of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery have the right to refuse to contribute without reprisal. Federal law prohibits ENT PAC from accepting contributions from foreign nationals. By law, if your contributions are made using a personal check or credit card, ENT PAC may use your contribution only to support candidates in federal elections. All corporate contributions to ENT PAC will be used for educational and administrative fees of ENT PAC, and other activities permissible under federal law. Federal law requires ENT PAC to use its best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and the name of the employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. ENT PAC is a program of the AAO-HNS which is exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c) (6) of the Internal Revenue Code.