Dear friends and colleagues,

On behalf of the European Academy of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery it is my privilege to welcome you to Mannheim for the 1st Meeting of the European Academy of ORL-HNS in collaboration with EUFOS, the largest congress of its kind in Europe, under the motto "Training & Research for Europe - from basic to advanced".
I am delighted to present a broad spectrum of topics that will address you on a high level and will cover the most relevant and recent conceptual, surgical and technological advances in selected challenging areas of Otorhinolaryngology as well as Head and Neck Surgery.
 
As you know, the EAORL-HNS and its subspecialty societies were in charge of the very successful 6th EUFOS Congress 2007 in Vienna. The programme structure will be based on the valuable experience gained in Vienna, but for the Mannheim Meeting has been refined to focus even more on education and lively interaction.

With its emphasis on instructional courses and round tables, this meeting will offer a wide range of scientific as well as practical education to doctors-in-training and young scientists from all over the world, highlighting recent diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical advances in the fields of ORL-HNS. Thus, the main task of the European Academy is the training and continuing education of ENT doctors in different stages of their careers. With this new approach we hope that the latest clinical and scientific advances of our speciality can be presented, adding to our knowledge and skills and so ultimately to improved patient care.

The Meeting represents an outstanding opportunity for Otorhinolaryngologists of all nations and sub-specialities to come together in a relaxed friendly environment and to exchange their ideas and expertise. In this regard, we very much appreciate being able to enlist a world-renowned international faculty who will share their concepts and techniques in the scientific meeting.

The pharmaceutical industry and to an even greater extent the medical device industry and its innovative power have played a significant role ever since the foundation of our society. New techniques will significantly influence our future work. This year’s meeting devotes exceptional space to the presentation of these new technologies in the form of the industrial exhibition and industry-sponsored symposia. It will provide an opportunity for companies to showcase their state-of-the-art technology, products and services and would in itself be a worthwhile reason for visiting the conference.

Finally, we have composed a social programme with which we hope to be able to meet the expectations of our participants and accompanying guests and to assure re-creative evenings during our meeting.

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the ORL Meeting 2009 in Mannheim.


Prof. Karl Hörmann
Congress President