Dear Colleagues,
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you know how key a role the AAP has played advocating for pediatric practitioners and our patients over the past few years. Through an era marked by a pandemic, gun violence epidemic, mental health crisis, misinformation dissemination, attacks on vulnerable populations and supply chain shortages, the AAP has led our fight and will continue to do so for years to come. Our Section has not been immune to the challenges noted above. Despite two of the past three NCE meetings being virtual, we have continued to shine a bright light on pediatrician education.
We had a wildly successful program in Anaheim this past year highlighted by our half-day session on pediatric airway disorders, our legendary otoscopy course and ENT potpourri, in addition to general program sessions on a variety of topics. In October, we will be in Washington, DC and will be honoring Craig Derkay for his distinguished career advocating for children. In addition, we have had successful collaborations with our peer societies in both the educational and advocacy realms.
Our Section was instrumental, through collaboration, in mitigating the tracheostomy tube shortage that plagued us in 2020. Our co-sponsored ASPO/SOOHNS webinar series on Hearing Loss has been very well received and our Section continues to play a major role reviewing policy statement, insurance company/coding challenges, and advocacy legislation as it pertains to our specialty. Lastly, we continue to provide educational content for families via HealthyChildren.org, which serves as one of the most reliable resources of information during a time when information clarity has never been more important!
We look forward to a very bright future!
Steve
Steven E. Sobol, MD, MSc, FRCS(C), FAAP
Chair, Section on Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery
