Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

continue to subspecialize. While having new fields of depth and complexity are a wonderful advantage to the specialty, questions like “Who does what?”, “Where do [subspecialists] practice?”, “How do we get paid?”, and most importantly, “How do we make sure our patients have access to quality care?” all need to be addressed thoughtfully. “Most of our residents are doing subspecialty training, and they are not all going into academic practice,” he said. “Fighting for the role of the comprehensive practice, the general otolaryngologist, that’s the heart of what we do. I believe that having a healthy, thriving generalist population within our Academy will absolutely sustain us well, while staying interesting and attractive to our subspecialty graduates. There has never been a more important time to stick together.” During his presidency, the theme of “I am an otolaryngologist” was an important guidepost for Dr. Merati as well as the specialty. “No matter what subspecialty we represent or focus on, each of us is an otolaryngologist first. We are all tied together,” he wrote in his June 2019 Bulletin column. “I challenge all of us to consider otolaryngology-head and neck surgery as a whole as we make our plans for our specialty areas, our communities, and our careers. We can all be stronger by keeping the AAO-HNS impactful and attuned to otolaryngologist needs.” Accordingly, Dr. Merati was a great listener, convener and supporter of many groups with heterogeneous ideals and goals and displayed a great ability to achieve beneficial working collaboration among these groups. As his tenure in office concluded, Dr. Merati wrote, “The concerns and opportunities for the future are real and bringing issues to my attention directly (and indirectly) are critical to a successful journey… Changing the voice of the trainees in AAO-HNS/F committees, registration flexibility for our military otolaryngologists, and standing up for and committing to diversity and inclusion—these conversations were all built from the voices of our members.” He has continued to personally work with and for medical students and residents following his presidency to support their inclusion in Academy programs. Indeed, Dr. Merati wanted the membership to feel empowered to speak up and share what was working and what was not working to help carve a vision for the future. “They should feel like they are a part of shaping the strategic plan, even member by member. Help us get it right.”

I had no imagination in my professional career that I would

of ego are key currencies of the organization. “The Academy gave me an opportunity to be engaged and take a shot at leadership.” As President from 2018-2019, Dr. Merati noted, “I had no imagination in my professional career that I would ever be the Academy President. I am full of all sorts of dreams and big ideas… but I never imagined this particular job. I realized that the role of a president is to be a listener, a fair arbiter of decisions, and a voice to speak for members in a way that complements the stewardship of the EVP.” In the May 2019 Bulletin , Dr. Merati diverged from presidential column norms and shared a deeply personal article titled, “Renewal, Reflection, Regret” in which he detailed his experience with weight loss. “I don’t share this story as a personal triumph,” he wrote. “Indeed, in many ways, it is a story of failure. I reflect on this as a lesson learned to share with my fellow physicians.” “I believe that people want to hear about other people,” he explained later, “and I thought that if someone in a position of leadership could share a story of a lesson learned that it would resonate with them. And I was very happy to see that it did. I felt compelled to remain authentic at all times.” Considering challenges facing the specialty, Dr. Merati felt that we were in many ways still going through a maturing process, particularly as we ever be the Academy President. I am full of all sorts of dreams and big ideas… but I never imagined this particular job. I realized that the role of a president is to be a listener, a fair arbiter of decisions, and a voice to speak for members in a way that complements the stewardship of the EVP.”

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