Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE: ROBERT H. MAISEL, MD PRESIDENT FROM 2004 – 2005

R obert H. Maisel, MD, grew up in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, and attended the University of Minnesota Medical School after completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan. He initially thought that he would become an internist but shared, “When I rotated onto otolaryngology as a last part of my junior year, I really thought this would work best for where my interest [was]. I wanted to see patients, I wanted to be involved with making diagnoses, be involved in chronic diseases, and… I wanted to do surgery.” Dr. Maisel went on to explain that he was “accepted to the [residency] program at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, and I was just blown away by what they were doing with head neck surgery at that time. [It] allowed me to meet people all around the country and all around the world in our specialty. So, where you go makes the difference sometimes. As I got involved in the specialty as a senior resident, we all went to the [AAO-HNS/F Annual] Meeting in Dallas. I thought that was great because I’d never been to a meeting like that where there was so much going on and so much opportunity to learn.” Dr. Maisel eventually served on multiple AAO HNS/F committees at the same time. He got involved with the Academy’s Pathology Committee through a fellow at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and was appointed to the Program Advisory Committee, the Research Advisory Committee, and the Instruction Course Advisory Committee (ICAC). He was appointed by the AAO-HNS Board of Directors to serve as Chair of the ICAC from 1996-2002. “I was involved in a lot of meetings and as a result, many of the meetings were at the Academy’s headquarters, so I wound up coming to Washington with some frequency,” he said.

After serving on the AAO-HNS/F Boards of Directors for six years, Dr. Maisel was asked to run for President of the Academy. “I was honored that the membership was willing to vote for me.” Preparing to take office, Dr. Maisel formulated several goals for his time as President, including a continued focus on advocacy for the specialty with local and national legislators. He wanted to work on planned giving and other funding sources to keep the Academy viable. International engagement was another priority for Dr. Maisel as well as the expansion online of education opportunities to meet the changing needs of members in obtaining the necessary continuing education credits for maintenance of certification.

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