The specialty of the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) system is relatively young compared to certain medical practices. Even to function as a unified discipline, pioneers of the specialty had to wage a protracted struggle to surmount considerable hindrances. Initially confined to managing ear infections alone, the introduction of surgical intervention skills gradually led the specialty to adapt a unified approach. Furthermore, with improved technological advances, the specialty’s horizon for surgical intervention broadened enabling it to handle disorders of the face, head and neck. As a result, the discipline has become alternatively to be known as the specialty of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head & Neck surgery (ORL - HNS).
This specialty deals with a system that:
• Occupies a strategic location at the very entrance of the aero – digestive tract.
• Performs, among other things, four main sensory functions: hearing, balance, smell and taste,
• Is very closely related to the body’s certain vital organs ……… the CNS, Eyes and major blood vessels destined for the head and neck.
• Frequently encounters most common disorders (20 – 30% of all cases) – an estimate of a typical primary practice.
The above facts obviously imply that the ENT system plays a very significant role for the survival of the individual. Therefore, exposure to and acquiring basic knowledge of the system, would be instrumental to the young medical practitioners.
Aims
This short attachment course is designed to accomplish the following aims:
• To review essential ENT anatomy and physiology
• To demonstrate the use and application of basic equipments employed in ENT practice.
• To show and exercise methods in examining the ear, the nose, the throat, and the head and neck region.
• To present trainees with commonly encountered ENT disorders.
• To orient trainees with practical approach in the management of ENT disorders:-
Planning diagnostic approaches