Published: March 30, 2017

Candidate Statements | Nominating Committee: Academic | Mark E. Zafereo, Jr., MD

The Academy should continue to expect leaders with commitment to service within and beyond the specialty: diverse servant leaders of varying age, gender, ethnicity, practice setting, subspecialty, and geography who embody common qualities of both servant and leader: integrity, humility, vision, grace, and strength of character.


Q: What attributes will you seek in our future Academy leaders? What experience do you have that will aid in selecting leaders that will advance the mission of the Academy?

Mark E. Zafereo, Jr., MD

ZafereoThe Academy should continue to expect leaders with commitment to service within and beyond the specialty: diverse servant leaders of varying age, gender, ethnicity, practice setting, subspecialty, and geography who embody common qualities of both servant and leader: integrity, humility, vision, grace, and strength of character.

I have been given opportunities to serve in numerous leadership, task force, and committee roles spanning a wide breadth of the AAO-HNS, benefiting greatly from the wisdom and example of past and current Academy leaders who have advanced the specialty in patient care, public education, and health policy advocacy.

The strength of the Academy is its membership, both the talent of its individual members and the broad representation of the specialty. Some have particular gifts to understand the economics of health policy and payment reform; others to mobilize grassroots efforts to influence legislation; some to push the frontiers of research; others to improve evidence-based clinical care guidelines. While any one person cannot possess all, effective servant leaders of the Academy will harness and inspire the wealth of gifts and diversity within Academy membership so that the Academy will continue to be true to its mission: to empower otolaryngologists to deliver the best patient care.


More from April 2017 - Vol. 36, No. 3