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Report of the Regional Secretary for North America and the Caribbean


Professor Milan Profant, MD, IFOS Secretary-General was appointed to the International Steering Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Foundation. At the invitation of Gregory W. Randolph, MD, the Foundation’s Coordinator for International Affairs and ex officio steering committee chair, Professor Profant spoke at the 2011 Global Health Symposium held in conjunction with the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in San Francisco, California, September 2011. At the San Francisco meeting, Professor Profant also met with leaders of national societies from around the globe.

New International Journal: The American Rhinologic Society, in conjunction with the American Academy of Otolaryngologic Allergy launched a new official Journal in January 2011, The International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology. This Journal has now also become the official Journal of The International Symposium of Infection and Allergy of the Nose and The International Rhinologic Society. Published by Wiley, this Journal has the largest circulation of any rhinology Journal and was accepted for indexing in Medline in the first year of its publication in print. The Journal is available for online subscriptions at no charge to any institution internationally through 2012, making it accessible to institutions throughout the world, including those in developing countries.

International Visiting Scholars: thanks to the efforts of Nikhil J. Bhatt, MD, Foundation Board Coordinator for Development and chair, International Otolaryngology Committee, and the generosity of individual donors, the number of scholars has quadrupled in the last few years to eight, including three for Indian scholars. These scholars, mostly from the least developed countries, attend the AAO-HNSF annual meeting and take part in short-term observerships. In 2012, an outstanding young woman otolaryngologist will receive the first Nancy Snyderman International Visiting Scholarship. International Travel Grants: five grants of $1,000 each go to non-US scholars studying in US otolaryngology programs to attend the AAO-HNSF annual meeting.

IFOS Hearing for All initiative: James E. Saunders, MD and Jackie Clark, PhD, co-chairs of the Coalition for Global Hearing Health, (http://cfghh.squarespace.com) organized a successful second annual meeting, hosted by the House Research Institute, Los Angeles, California. The new WHO program director for the Prevention of Deafness, Professor Shelly Chadha, founder of Sound Hearing, New Delhi, India, addressed more than 70 representatives from the specialty and hearing related professions.

The AAO-HNS will again participate in World Voice Day, April 16, and is preparing patient education materials to share with national societies around the world.

Caribbean Barbara Grandison, MD, president, the Caribbean Association of Otolaryngologists—Head and Neck Surgeons (CAO,) announced the 2012 CAO conference March 15-19, in the form of a cruise departing from Miami, Florida, and including visits to Key West and Cozumel. The conference includes a joint meeting with AAO-HNSF.

Patrick Jean-Gilles, MD, leader of the Haitian otolaryngology community, is organizing a society for the specialty, with help from Terry A. Day, MD, Regional Advisor for the Caribbean on the AAO-HNSF International Steering Committee.

Respectfully submitted,

David W. Kennedy, MD, FACS, FRCSI
Regional Secretary for North America and the Caribbean