History of pediatric otolaryngology in North America

Pediatric otolaryngology in North America as a subspecialty has undergone many phases of metamorphosis. The roots of the subspecialty can be traced from the days of endoscopists of the late 1800s to today's pediatric subspecialists; many practice in tertiary children's hospitals with many focus on a particular set of diseases and anatomic regions. In the U.S., postgraduate medical education of the subspecialty has been formalized and strengthened through fellowship accreditation over two decades ago, and subspecialty medical board recognition has been established through a rigorous journey of sub-certification. While several publications on the history of the subspecialty concentrated on a particular developmental phase or time-period have been published, none had attempted to unfold its convoluted story from embryogenesis to adulthood. Furthermore, the counterpart history of the subspecialty in Canada and Mexico has not been told juxtaposed to the neighbor that separates them geographically.