Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

bylaws that would create both the new Section and the WIO Endowment. The group raised over $400,000 in gifts and pledges in four days, and the WIO Endowment was born. In 2021, with over 2,000 members, the WIO Section is dedicated to assisting the career development of women otolaryngologists and those considering careers in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. At the opening of the 2016 Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, which was attended by her husband, four children, and a big part of her extended family, she remarked, “My vision for this year was to expand Diversity and Inclusion at our Academy and Foundation. This applies not only to race, ethnicity and gender, but to age, sexual orientation, practice type and geographical location as well. We have already seen benefits such as increased adaptability to challenges, broader reach to diverse physicians and patients, and more effective execution of ideas incorporating a variety of viewpoints. “I was a resident the first time I attended an Academy Annual Meeting, in fact, right here in San Diego. Nearly every year from then on, I sat where you are at the Opening Ceremony, listening to our leaders and never imagining that someone like me—an immigrant woman New Yorker with a four-syllable last name— would be up here one day. But our Academy and Foundation is a place where if you show up, commit, work, and participate, well, every door is flung wide open for you. And I am standing here as proof of that.” While President, Dr. Chandrasekhar welcomed members, departments, faculty residents, medical students, and more to become engaged with the activities and life of the AAO-HNS/F to help it grow and evolve while advancing the future of the specialty. “I love to encourage people, young and old, to pursue whatever their next dream is. And I think the Academy also changed. The ‘We Are One’ campaign came from that, came from a sort of grassroots awakening that the Academy should not be some separate ‘thing.’ The Academy is us. And I think that fortuitously happened around the same time.” When asked what she would suggest the AAO HNS/F focus on moving forward, she replied, “I think the attention to physician wellness that [in turn affects] patient wellness is really important. The Academy will always be the number one source for the top scientific information, but helping us learn to manage our time, manage our employees, manage ourselves, as our families grow, as our responsibilities grow, the Academy is uniquely poised to affect what the future otolaryngology cohort looks like.”

My vision for this year was to expand Diversity and

socioeconomic matters, practice management concerns, and other “bigger picture” topics. After serving on committees, attending seminars, and continuing her scientific work, she was elected as a member-at-large of the BOG Executive Committee and, subsequently, as Chair in 2012. “My dad was there when I got elected to Chair and that was really cool,” she said. As Chair, she was also able to sit on the Board of Directors of the AAO HNS/F. “That was really educational to understand how and why things happen at the Academy and how a bill becomes a law... how an idea germinates and goes through the process and [is] changed and fixed along the way so that it really helps members.” Dr. Chandrasekhar has said that it was the highest honor of her career to be elected President. “To be trusted by my colleagues to be the face of our specialty is an amazing thing. I think I put a different face on the Academy. I was the third woman President elected to the Academy. I couldn’t believe that Gayle Woodson and I exchanged the gavel at her meeting in Dallas. I never thought I would see that day when a woman President would give the gavel to a woman President. I remember how excited everyone was when Jennifer Derebery became the first woman President.” Dr. Chandrasekhar brought an energy level and excitement to her presidency like few others. That coupled with her social media presence allowed her to be an extremely effective ambassador for the specialty during her term. In fact, Dr. Chandrasekhar was instrumental in transforming the Women in Otolaryngology (WIO) Committee into the WIO Section. She and other pioneers from the WIO Committee met during the 2010 Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and drafted Inclusion at our Academy and Foundation. This applies not only to race, ethnicity and gender, but to age, sexual orientation, practice type and geographical location as well.”

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