The A to Z in ENT Summer Conference brought together delegates from around the country to a virtual meeting on the topic of ENT and Head and Neck surgery.
Delegates were a mix of medical students and junior doctors, all of whom were looking forward to hearing from senior ENT surgeons, as well as contemporaries presenting their audits, quality improvement projects and research initiatives.
The afternoon conference began with a welcome and introduction from the organising committee, who immediately set a welcoming, non-intimidating tone for the meeting.
The first of the keynote presentations was from Dr Vikas Acharya, an ENT registrar, whose topic, ‘The Thrills and Spills of ENT; the good, the bad and the ugly,’ humorously presented the breadth and variety of ENT. This was particularly useful for junior colleagues; ENT is a notably broad surgical speciality, and it was exciting to see all the avenues that ENT trainees could journey down.
The meeting’s second keynote speaker, Mr Hasan, laid out an admirable sales pitch entitled ‘Why ENT.’ His arguments, about the variety, the job satisfaction and unique surgeries that characterise ENT, were exciting and easily reinforced ambitions of ENT surgery amongst conference delegates.
The second half of the conference was composed of 10 oral presentations from medical student and junior doctor delegates. It was enthusiastically and warmly hosted by members of the A to Z team, which encouraged delegates to ask questions, and set a tone where presenters felt comfortable speaking and responding to judge and audience comments. Presenters were challenged and questioned by a panel of three senior ENT surgeons, all of whom praised the quality and professionalism of the speakers. Topics covered ranged from medical education to head and neck cancer, clinical audit and more.
The conference concluded with broad praise and thanks from delegates for a well-organised meeting, which provided inspiration for future projects and a good opportunity for work to be presented to members of the ENT community.
Congratulations to the medical student, poster and oral presentation prize winners, and thanks to the A to Z committee for organising such a successful summer conference.
Dr Leo Gundle, Foundation Year Two Doctor, University Hospitals Dorset, Poole, UK.
