Changes in technology and innovation in the specialty covering the study of ear, nose and throat diseases and head and neck surgery will be a focus of an upcoming event in Rotorua.
The annual general and scientific meeting of the New Zealand Society of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery will be held from October 13, at the Energy Events Centre.
The organising committee for the event includes three ENT surgeons at Lakes District Health Board - Chris Low, Gary Back and Wilfred Wong-Toi - and Julian White from Waikato. DHB Convenor Chris Low says they have organised a comprehensive programme that offers considerable variety across the areas of interest. He said offering a schedule of concurrent workshops on the first day would enable attendees to get along to a good number of them, and not have to miss out on an area of interest to them.
Dr Low said since the turn of this century the specialty covering the study of ear, nose and throat diseases and head and neck surgery has benefited from a tremendous pace in innovation. "Networking and dissemination of knowledge worldwide through the internet, social media and smart digital devices has accelerated this process. We have embraced technological advances such as endoscopy, video imaging, LASER and robotics to enhance our practice."
He added that through joint efforts with other specialties, members of the New Zealand Society of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery had formed multidisciplinary groups to manage patients with complex needs. Allied specialties such as audiologists, speech and language therapists, specialist nurses and general practitioners with ENT interest, have made important contributions to the specialty areas of the society members.
