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• RACS 2020 Awards

  ASOHNS is pleased to congratulate two members who have been announced as recipients of RACS awards.

  The ESR Hughes Award is awarded for distinguished contributions to surgery by RACS Fellows and others and for 2020 this was awarded to Dr Neil Vallance (Victoria).

  The Rural Surgeons Award is an award acknowledging significant contributions to surgery in rural settinigs in Austrralia and New Zealand. Dr Bal Krishan is the 2020 recipient.

  The awards are due recognition of their services and dedication to their patients and our speciality.  

• RACS Rural Surgeons Award 2022

  ASOHNS congratulates Dr Michael Wilson who has been awarded the RACS Rural Surgeon Award in 2022.

  Awarded in recognition of his significant contribution to surgery in rural settings in Australia

  Awarded 23 June 2022 and presented at the ASOHNS Victorian Quarterly Meeting August 2023.

• 2023 NAIDOC Person of the Year Award

  Congratulations to Professor Kelvin Kong on receiving this award. Professor Kelvin Kong is a Worimi man who grew up on Country in Port Stephens, on the New South Wales mid-north-coast. Kelvin graduated from the University of New South Wales to become Australia's first Indigenous surgeon. He credits his mother, Grace Kinsella, a pioneering Indigenous registered nurse, for inspiring him and his older sisters, twins Marlene and Marilyn, to become doctors. Their father, Kong Cheok Seng, a Malaysian Chinese man, is also a doctor. 

  Professor Kong, now works on Awabakal and Worimi Country, and is associated with the University of Newcastle's School of Medicine and Public Health. He is an Otolaryngology, Head and Neck surgeon and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS). Kelvin works at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital and John Hunter Children’s Hospital, and he explains that hearing loss, often caused by Otitis Media (middle ear disease), significantly contributes to poor educational outcomes for children and can lead to higher unemployment rates in adults as a result. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience the highest levels of chronic otitis media in the world, affecting up to 70% of children in remote communities. 

  Determined to change the statistics, Dr Kong has dedicated his career to early intervention. Dr Kong says “If we can reduce the risk of hearing loss, we can have a direct impact on a child's ability to learn and develop. The change that we see is remarkable - we can take them from limited hearing and language skills to fully functioning teenagers with real employment prospects”. 

  Dr Kong is passionate about addressing the disparity in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. Each year, he spends a portion of his time working in, and for, remote Indigenous communities providing access to quality healthcare that would otherwise be limited or completely unavailable. This includes visiting the Kimberley’s each year to perform specialist consultations and surgery.  

  He is also passionate about improving pathways into specialist medical training and improving Indigenous workforce across the health and research sector. Dr Kong mentors high school students to encourage more Indigenous people to consider careers in medicine and surgery. 

  In 2011, Dr Kong joined other medical practitioners in the Care for Kids' Ears campaign to address the ongoing issues experienced by remote communities. The campaign was designed to encourage communities to be empowered with resources and information about ear health to reduce the risk of ear disease and hearing loss. Dr Kong is passionate in his advocacy in which he centres the importance of working together as a community - "When we work together with a community, we can address all the issues that arise from ear disease. Our job is to improve kids' health so they can get the education they need." 

  Some of Dr Kong's many roles include:  

  • First ever identified Indigenous Fellow, and current Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ (RACS). 
  • Examiner, Royal Australasian College Surgeons 
  • Mentor Surgical Pathways for Indigenous Australians 
  • Public and Private practice in Newcastle, at Hunter ENT Surgery 
  • Professor and mentor at the University of Newcastle 
  • Honorary Professor Macquarie University 
  • Associate Professor UNSW 
  • Clinical lead, ENT Outreach services HNELHD 
  • Indigenous Lead, Australian Society Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery 
  • Researcher; Successful in numerous NHMRC grants, awards and collaboration 
  • Chair, Advisory Group for reporting on the Ear and Hearing Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 
  • Member, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ear and Hearing Health Partnership Committee 
  • Served on multiple advisory boards and committee’s including the Indigenous Health and Fellowship Services Committee 
  • Previous Board member for the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) 
  • Previous Board member Cancer Australia’s Advisory Board 
  • Previous Board Member Hearing Australia 
  • Previous secretary of Australia and New Zealand Society Paediatric Otolaryngology (ANZSPO) 
  • Recently, Dr Kong received an Honour Roll mention for Australian of the Year 

  Many of our young Mob are labelled as problems, too difficult, described as having learning difficulties, or as not wanting to learn. The truth is that due to the complex legacy of colonisation, under-funded communities, and racism, many of our young people are living with undiagnosed and treatable medical issues that create barriers to learning, education, employment and healthy living.  

  It is Dr Kong’s goal to ensure that these barriers are eradicated and that our Mob have equal access to quality health care to enable them to have every opportunity in life. 

  From https://www.naidoc.org.au/award-finalist/professor-kelvin-kong

• ASOHNS 2021 Society Awards

  Congratulations to the recipients of 2021 Society Medal who were announced at the Annual Scientific Meeting Virtual Meeting 2021.

  For Distinguished Contribution to the Art and Science of Otolaryngology:

  • Dr Hannah Burns.       

  For Distinguished Service to ASOHNS:

  • Dr Stanley Stylis

  RACS RURAL SURGEONS AWARD:

  • Dr Bal Krishan FRACS

   

  Dr Hannah Burns was also awarded the AJO Top Reviewer for the AJO in 2020 and 2021.
• RACS NSW Awards 2022

  ASOHNS would like to congratulate Associate Professor Payal Mukherjee on receiving two RACS NSW Awards for 2022.

  • Michael Donnellan Award
  • Women in Leadership Award

   

• Order of Australia Medal 2024

  Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division

  Dr George Patrick Bridger, NSW

  For significant service to medicine through otolaryngology head and neck surgery.

  Clinical

  • Visiting Otolaryngologist, Head and Neck Oncology Unit, Prince of Wales Hospital, 1970-2006.

  • Visiting Otolaryngologist, Head and Neck Oncology Unit, Bankstown Hospital, 1970-2006.

  Academic

  • Conjoint Associate Professor, University of New South Wales, 2002-2007.

  • Examiner, University of Kebangsaan Malaysia, 2001.

  • Visiting Professor (RACS), Malaysian College of Surgeons meeting in Kuala Lumpur, 1992.

  • Visiting Professor, Memorial Hospital New York, 1977.

  Australian Society Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery

  • President, 1997.

  • Past Chairman, New South Wales Section.

  Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

  • Fellow / Senior Examiner, Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, since 1965.

  • Former Member, Surgical Oncology Committee.

  • Fellow, since 1995.

  Professional Affiliations

  • Former Inaugural President, Australia and New Zealand Head and Neck Cancer Society.

  • Faculty Member, Vanderbilt University Head and Neck Meeting, Colorado, 17 years.

  • Editorial Board Member, Current Opinion in Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Journal.

  • Co-Organiser, 2nd World Congress on Laryngeal Cancer, Sydney, 1994.

  • Guest Speaker, New Zealand Otolaryngological Society, Fiji, 1986.

  • Panel Member on Laryngeal Cancer, International Federation of Otolaryngological Societies, Buenos Aires, 1978.

  • Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons of England, since 1966.

  • Developed operations for septal perforations and hereditary nasal telangiectasia.

  • Contributed to over 70 scientific papers.

  Awards and Recognition include:

  • George Syme Medal, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

  • ESR Hughes Award, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 2008.

  • Doctor of Medical Science (Honoris Causa), University of New South Wales, 1995.

  • The Garnet Halloran Award, 1974 (for research in Head and Neck Cancer).

  • Bertha Sudholtz Award, University of Adelaide, 1971 (for research in Otolaryngology)