Fall 2019 - Soundings Newsletter

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Soundings PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF OUR MEMBERS AND THEIR PATIENTS

President’s Message Secondly, I would like to thank the Scientific Session Planning Committee, and especially the Program Chairs, Dr. Jessyka Lighthall and Dr. Colin Huntley, on another successful annual meeting in Hershey. We had a great multidisciplinary session on cutaneous malignancy, a discussion of wellness and the challenges of aging surgeons, as well as “chalk talks” on a variety of brief, high-impact topics relevant to many of our practices. As in the past, the oral abstract presentations and ever-popular resident Jeopardy session rounded out the second day. Johnathan D. McGinn, MD, FACS PAO-HNS President

I look forward to our 2020

Fall is in full swing with gentler temperatures and beautiful colors. It is a great time to be in Pennsylvania. As always it is also a great time to be an Otolaryngologist and serve our patients in their needs for specialty medical and surgical care of the head and neck. I am excited as I begin my term as president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery to be able to lead the charge in advocacy for you and your patients.

beautiful Nemacolin Resort

Firstly, I would like to extend gratitude to Dr. Soliman on behalf of our Academy for his dedicated service as president over the last two years. His steadfast leadership and counsel have helped further the cause of our patients and the profession in Pennsylvania. His successes were numerous, but challenges do persist, and we will continue to fight the assaults from all directions to ensure high quality and safe care for our patients.

Annual Meeting at the This year Thomas Jefferson University is to be congratulated, having dominated the day with the Conchal Bowl award, as well as receiving both oral presentation awards and the second-place poster award. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center took the first-place poster award. The Second Annual Women in Otolaryngology Session was held, with Dr. Cecilia Schmalbach giving an excellent presentation on mentorship. We also were honored again by the attendance of Dr. James Denneny, AAO-HNS Executive Vice President, who was awarded the Helen Krause, MD Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Ahmed Soliman, Immediate Past President, delivered Dr. Thomas Kennedy a special recognition award for his service to the specialty and our state during his career. I look forward to our 2020 Annual Meeting at the beautiful Nemacolin Resort, and anticipate a great session under the leadership of our Program Chairs, Drs. Colin Huntley and Pamela Roehm.

Thirdly, I would like to update you on our ongoing efforts in advocacy. We continue to work closely with our national Academy and PAMED on key issues affecting our state. We recently partnered with the AAO-HNSF to write a letter of support for House Bill 1220, advocating for patient education regarding CMV infection and its role in hearing loss, with provision for early testing based on hearing loss or parental concern. Dr. Maurits Boon, our new Sleep Medicine Committee Chair, and Dr. Richard Ferraro, our Patient Advocacy Chair, have been engaged in efforts to ensure fair insurance coverage policies for hypoglossal nerve stimulation implants. We also continue efforts to maintain our specialty’s presence on the Pennsylvania Speech and Audiology Board. Some legislative relief has been written regarding consent issues and discussion is ongoing regarding venue change concerns. We will keep you updated as these further develop. We continue to engage our government relations firm, Milliron & Goodman, to keep us informed of key legislative issues impacting our patients and specialty, as well as supporting those groups on the Hill. I also want to extend congratulations to Dr. Karen Rizzo on her election as Secretary of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery Board of Governors. Always a strong advocate for otolaryngologists and our patients, this new role as a BOG officer will allow her even greater opportunity to serve our specialty in this grassroots organization. The BOG continues to grow in the important role as liaison between local, state and national specialty societies and the Board of Directors of the AAO-HNSF. I encourage all PAO-HNS members to consider

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