Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

Remember your calling and why you went into our profession. Get involved; give of your time and expertise to our specialty. Influence those in charge of the gale—your members of Congress and those in authority. When the call for action comes from the Academy to contact Congress regarding an issue—just do it! It takes only a minute to send an email to your Congressman through our system and every note or call makes a difference. Collectively, we can chart our course, set our sails to work towards our specialty’s and patients’ collective good.”

In the June 2012 Bulletin , Dr. Lusk reflected on leadership and how an AAO-HNS/F member assumes positions of leadership, including the presidency. At the 2011 Young Physicians Committee meeting, he was asked how one becomes president of the Academy. “My answer was short and truthful: It is not something you plan or aspire to. The nominations of our most important leadership positions come from a powerful group of elected committee members known as the Nominating Committee. These individuals take the job seriously and function independently of the existing Academy organization and leadership. The question got me thinking—how does an Academy member rise to a leadership position? It seems to me the recognition needed to obtain a leadership role is not prescribed or linear but has at its core a willingness to serve. Further, you need the expertise and some leadership skills.” Dr. Lusk encouraged members to look within themselves for those leadership qualities and to take every opportunity to help steer the course of the specialty as well as their own careers. “Don’t let the gales of medical change alter your personal or our specialty’s course,” he wrote. “Remember your calling and why you went into our profession. Get involved; give of your time and expertise to our specialty. Influence those in charge of the gale—your members of Congress and those in authority. When the call for action comes from the Academy to contact Congress regarding an issue—just do it! It takes only a minute to send an email to your Congressman through our system and every note or call makes a difference. Collectively, we can chart our course, set our sails to work towards our specialty’s and patients’ collective good.”

“My mission, as President, is to make sure that everyone who depends on the Academy for content can access the information when and where they need it. I am committed to building a website that keeps our membership and the public coming back to us for their clinical content.” Dr. Lusk understood the power of technology and the ever-increasing need for search accuracy and relevancy to help all users—members, researchers, patients, and even the media—find the information they need quickly, easily, and accurately. Noting that there were more than 2.5 million visits to the AAO-HNS/F website in FY11, he also recognized that “80 percent of the visitors go no further than the homepage. We have, therefore, concluded they are not finding what they need.” At the beginning of his presidency, Dr. Lusk set the following technological goals to assist website users: • Create a well-indexed site and map for improved searching • Assign appropriate tags and keywords to all content • Provide a user-friendly search engine • Provide ongoing maintenance and updates for all our content • Strategically plan new clinical content Realizing that knowledge gathering and dissemination did not mean simply having a strategically planned website, Dr. Lusk also highlighted member education early in his term as President. “Just as advances in technology represent an area of constant, rapid, and important change for the Academy, so too does education. The website enhancements will increase the ease and efficiency with which you can find educational material matched to your needs,” he wrote.

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