Declan Costello, MA, MBBS, FRCS(ORL-HNS),
Consultant Ear,
Nose and Throat Surgeon,
Wexham Park Hospital,
Slough, Berkshire, UK.
E: d.costello@nhs.net
TW / X: @Voicedoctor_uk
Here at ENT & Audiology News, we like to celebrate clinicians at all stages of their careers. For Sep/Oct 2025, we feature articles by young European laryngologists and an interview with the senior otologist, Gerry O’Donoghue, who is retiring after an illustrious career in Nottingham. I have particular reason to remember Prof O’Donoghue, as he was the first examiner to grill me in my FRCS viva exam.
The professor would be too kind to mention it (and actually I hope he doesn’t remember it), but it was one of the more painfully embarrassing experiences of my medical career – in the otology oral questions, we got onto the topic of vertigo, which is very much not my area of expertise. Suffice to say that after five minutes of conversation, my own head was spinning and I was very happy to move onto the next examiners’ questions on head and neck surgery. As always, he was characteristically charming and kind in the face of a trainee who clearly wasn’t a specialist otologist. We wish Gerry a happy retirement!
Elsewhere, we have a fascinating article about a totally implantable cochlear implant, which clearly has huge potential benefits over conventional CIs. CIs are also discussed in our Global Health section, with an article looking at access to hearing implants in India.
Many colleagues will be aware of the increasing presence of ‘predatory’ conferences, which are essentially scams to extract money from unsuspecting clinicians. It is easy to be drawn towards a flattering invitation to speak at such a conference – so Sep/Oct 2025 features an article on how to avoid these entities.
For Sept/Oct 2025, we welcome a new member of the editorial team. Miles Bannister takes over as the lead for our How I Do It section – welcome Miles! Keep an eye out for Nov/Dec 2025, alongside which Miles will be putting together a whole supplement covering some of the most innovative, practical and enduring surgical techniques we have published in our HIDI section over the past decade or so. This will be published with our next issue in a couple of months.
We will be out and about at meetings in the coming months – I will be at the British Laryngological Association’s Conference in London in October and if you are attending that meeting, you’ll be able to pick up a free copy of the print magazine. We will similarly be distributing copies at the European Union of Hearing Aid Acousticians (EUHA, in Hannover) and the Irish Otolaryngology Society (IOS, in Galway). We hope to see you there!
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