Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

were to do rhinology and sinus surgery, I needed to learn more about it.” Intrigued after attending a basic course sponsored by the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy (AAOA), she applied for and was accepted to a one year fellowship in Kansas City, Missouri, sponsored by AAOA. “I was surprised that an exposure to immunology made a lot of otolaryngology fall into place.” During her fellowship in 1985, two things occurred requiring Dr. Derebery to make a major life choice. Her boyfriend, now husband, was anxious to advance his engineering degree at programs in either Massachusetts or Los Angeles, California. Simultaneously, she received an offer from the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles to join its burgeoning allergy program as an otologic allergist. As Dr. Derebery recalled, “So we went to Los Angeles. No offense intended, but Pittsfield, Massachusetts, just sounded too cold. A complicating factor in accepting a position at the House Ear Clinic was that I really hadn’t liked otology much in residency. But I figured I could do anything for a while.” A planned two-year commitment became her practice home. And to her surprise, she found she loved otology. “There was a logic to otology as it was practiced at House that was new to me. I have had great teachers and made friends there through the years, and I am very grateful for that. It’s just better sometimes not to direct life too much, just see where it goes of its own volition.” Dr. Derebery started to engage productively in many organizations during the 1990s including the AAO HNS/F; the AAOA; the California Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Society; and more. These contributions led to her election as president of the AAOA, 1999 – 2000. Dr. Derebery recalled a work situation while president-elect of AAOA that she feels led to her eventual nomination for President-elect at the Academy. “Okay, again, circuitous… CMS substantially reduced the reimbursement, as well as misinterpreted CPT code 95165, the provision of allergy immunotherapy, which is actually the most commonly used code in otolaryngology. I felt there was no option but to get it reversed. Naively, I volunteered to take it on as we had reversed a similar problem in California. If I had had any clue about the difficulty in dealing with CMS, I would have ‘known we couldn’t win,’ but ignorance was bliss.”

“I went to DC nine times that year, most of the time returning to LA on the flight that later crashed in the 9/11 attacks. That continues to haunt me.” Eventually, the lobbying effort by AAOA and AAO HNS convinced CMS to reverse its decision. “That successful collaboration with the Academy was noticed by the AAO-HNS Nominating Committee, leading to an election to the Board of Directors, followed by a request to run for President,” Dr. Derebery relayed. Initially, she was ambivalent about whether to accept the nomination, worried that the time commitment would adversely affect her twin daughters, Alexandra (A.J.) and Madison, who were still in elementary school. But her husband, Greg Spahr, urged her on, “I’ll handle the parent teacher conferences.” He believed that she needed to run because of the girls, to demonstrate that women can succeed just like the men. “I was honored to be the first woman President in the Academy’s 113-year history,” Dr. Derebery said. “My feeling was, whoever she was, it was about time!” She challenged herself to excel at the job and set a standard of success for those before and after her. It wasn’t easy, traveling at least once a week and foregoing income is difficult in private practice, she underscored. “Serving as the first woman President has been the highlight of my career. I met so many interesting people and made many friends. More importantly, the girls have turned into wonderful young women, and my husband handled the parent teacher conferences superbly.” While she is proud to have broken that barrier and of the progress made since, she notes that disparity of income to women in the specialty still exists. She added, “Until half of university positions are filled with women who are on an equal basis as their male counterparts, we’re not done. But I’m very confident that with our mentoring and support, this generation of young women will successfully meet that goal.” During her year as President, there was considerable advocacy work at the federal and state level as well as private payer efforts. When leaving office, she shared this quote that is still germane today, “We shall either win as a group, or remain simply very talented individuals who cannot prevail against lesser competitors who have learned to work together toward a common goal.”

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