Pediatric Otolaryngology: Past, Present, and Future

What follows is a transcript of Dr Bluestone's guest-of-honor address before the Ninth Annual Meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Palm Beach, Fla, May 11, 1994. What is pediatric otolaryngology? What is a pediatric otolaryngologist? Must an otolaryngologist receive specialized training, or have relatively extensive experience in treating diseases and disorders of the ears, nose, throat, and head and neck in infants and children, to be a pediatric otolaryngologist? Is it a genuine subspecialty of otolaryngology? Should there be formal fellowship programs? Should these programs be certified? Should a pediatric otolaryngologist pass a test to determine competence in the field? Is not a well-trained general otolaryngologist, who does not limit his or her practice to only children, capable of treating this age group just as competently as a "pediatric otolaryngologist"? These are the questions many otolaryngologists are asking today. These are also the questions Kenneth M. Grundfast, president