Published: September 19, 2019

Your ally, your advocate, your champion

The Board of Governors (BOG), established 37 years ago as the grassroots member network within the AAO-HNS and comprised of local, state, regional, and national otolaryngology-head and neck surgery societies, is thriving. The BOG is Your Ally, Your Advocate, Your Champion.


Bog LogoThe Board of Governors (BOG), established 37 years ago as the grassroots member network within the AAO-HNS and comprised of local, state, regional, and national otolaryngology-head and neck surgery societies, is thriving. The BOG is Your Ally, Your Advocate, Your Champion. With a dedicated and motivated group of BOG leadership physicians, BOG members, and Academy staff, we are continuously working to improve the practices of all otolaryngologists throughout the country.

Ken Yanagisawa, MD Past Chair, BOGKen Yanagisawa, MD Past Chair, BOG

The practice (and unfortunately, at times, the burden) of current medical healthcare is adversely impacting providers on numerous fronts—economic instability, medicolegal predicaments, and profession satisfaction. Wellness and burnout top the list of provider concerns. You may wonder, “What is the BOG doing for me?” We tackle all issues facing otolaryngologists through our tri-pronged committee structure of 1) Socioeconomic, 2) Legislative Affairs, and 3) Governance and Society Engagement, and bring forth options and solutions to many problems.

The Regional Representative structure continues to grow and mature, with 10 physician leaders representing each of the 10 national regions (mimicking the Health and Human Services map of the United States) as well as a specialty society representative. These Regional Representatives serve as valuable communicators and facilitators for bidirectional information flow from membership to the BOG and AAO-HNS Board of Directors leadership.

Raising awareness of the BOG and its numerous activities geared at improving all physician practices has been my primary goal for this past year. Many tremendous accomplishments have been attained including:

  • The creation and updating of our BOG member toolkits in Socioeconomic Affairs, Legislative Affairs, and Society Engagement and Advancement
  • Increasing our social media presence with a Twitter hashtag, #BOGENT
  • The simplification and clarification of BOG Society representation with one to two Alternate Governors and one Governor per Society, eliminating the confusing designated titles of SEGR Representative and Legislative Affairs Representative
  • The recognition of and fostering the increasing BOG interactions with 3P (Physician Payment Policy) Workgroup
  • The incorporation of the ASCENT Private Practice Group as a BOG Society
  • The taskforce-driven definition of private practitioner involvement and engagement within BOG leadership positions
  • Encouraging participation from private practitioners and academic physicians alike in the student engagement projects

Our AAO-HNS/F 2019 Leadership Forum  & BOG Spring Meeting was filled with invigorating and stimulating talks and panels on fabulous topics, including defense attorney/physician alliances, advanced practice provider collaboration, practice management and wellness pointers, microaggressions, complication disclosures, the opioid crisis, the importance of sleep, future practice considerations, and strategies for mentoring millennials.

SAVE THE DATE

AAO-HNS/F 2020 Leadership Forum & BOG Spring Meeting
May 1-3, 2020
Alexandria, VA

This has been a wonderful and inspirational year with widespread advances, many new friendships, and much satisfaction in our achievements. It has been an honor to work with so many dedicated colleagues and Academy staff on the BOG team, and I thank all of them for their innumerable contributions and efforts.

Your Ally, Your Advocate, Your Champion. Please join us, share your talents, and enjoy the networking opportunities! Go #BOGENT.


More from October 2019 – Vol. 38, No. 9