Welcome to South Florida ENT's audio blog, a platform for general education on otolaryngology. Did you know that September is Women in Medicine month? Hear from otolaryngologist, Dr. Kendall Hanft, about how her professional life started and why she loves the ENT field. Make sure you listen until the end, because she gives some excellent advice for future otolaryngologist.
Shelby:
Welcome to South Florida ENT's audio blog, a platform for general education on otolaryngology. Today is our premier episode. Did you know that September is Women in Medicine month? I had the pleasure to speak with otolaryngologist, Dr. Kendall Hanft, about how her professional life started, why she loves the ENT field. And make sure you stay until the end, because she gives some excellent advice for future otolaryngologist.
Shelby:
Hi, Dr. Hanft, thank you so much for joining me today.
Dr. Hanft:
Hi, Shelby. Thank you so much for having me.
Shelby:
Yes. September is Women in Medicine month, and you're a woman in medicine. So I thought what a great opportunity to hear a little bit of your story. My first question for you is, why did you decide to get into otolaryngology?
Dr. Hanft:
Well, otolaryngology is a very unique field. It really offers a diverse management for doctor, patient relationships. We manage everything from medical and surgical, as well as lifestyle management. And that allows us to approach the patient from more of a holistic point of view. We manage the patient, including their hearing, their sinus, their voice, as well as advising them on medicine management, surgical management, and lifestyle management.
Shelby:
Did you always want to do this? Even as a little girl, was this something you were drawn to?
Dr. Hanft:
No, I was never... actually, originally I wanted to be a cartoonist. But when I entered medicine, I found that otolaryngology was really a very unique field because it didn't force us to just manage the patient medically. We are able to follow the patient from the office, to the surgery, into the postoperative period, and then follow them in their lifestyle in order to help prevent problems in the future.
Shelby:
Well, that's so interesting. So to be an otolaryngologist, I guess you have to be a little bit of a people person as well.
Dr. Hanft:
You do. You have to really be able to have conversations in the office. It's more of a teaching type of position where when they come into the office, not only are you trying to diagnose with what's wrong with them, but you also want to help teach them to prevent problems in the future. And that goes into more diet, health management, things like that.
Shelby:
That's so interesting. What do you love so much about being in the ENT field?
Dr. Hanft:
I really love the doctor, patient relationships. I've been practicing for almost 30 years now. I have families that I've taken care of everyone from the great-grandmother to the grandchildren, and they consider me part of the family. So when they come in, my goal is to really help them. Not just manage their ear infection or their sinus infection, but help manage their whole lifestyle and how they eat, what they do, when they eat, how much fluids they drink, things like that in order to help them lead a healthier lifestyle. How to prevent ear infections, what they should do when they go to the pool, what they should do when they fly.
Dr. Hanft:
I've been giving people information on how to fly and things to do on airplanes well before coronavirus. And my patients have come in now and thanked me and said, "Boy, I was wearing a mask on an airplane well before anyone else did. And all your little bits of advice helped me tremendously." So that's really what I like is the relationships that you develop with the patients and how you're able to help gear their health management through their whole life.
Shelby:
That's super rewarding to be able to follow people for that entire journey. And that's interesting that you get to see many in the family. Are these otolaryngology problems, are they genetic? Is that why you end up treating a lot of people in one family?
Dr. Hanft:
Not really genetic, but the benefit of otolaryngology is we manage children. We manage ear infections, sinus problems, tonsil problems. But we also manage problems that extend into later life, such as allergy, sinus, ear infections after traveling. And then we extend to the grandparents who are now taking care of grandchildren or helping take care of their grandchildren and the different infections they get by being exposed to their grandchildren or by traveling a lot. Or many of the grandparents now will have a house in the Northeast and in Florida. And they have different problems because they travel back and forth, different problems with allergy, different problems with infections from traveling.
Dr. Hanft:
So it's a really diverse field. It doesn't really restrict you to one small aspect of medicine. And that really is what attracted me the most is that not only am I going to manage someone surgically, if surgery is necessary, but we're also going to manage them as an entire person, a real, holistic approach to medicine.
Shelby:
That's awesome. What advice would you give to women or young girls who are thinking about getting either otolaryngology or just the ENT field in general?
Dr. Hanft:
Well, the ENT field in general is still a male-dominated field, and it is a surgical field. So reality is, it really requires a lot of hard work. It requires dedication. You do have to have a little bit of a backbone because it can be a tough field, especially at the beginning. And it's a very difficult residency to get into. So you have to be prepared to work hard. But that being said, it's a very rewarding field. I have several female friends that are otolaryngologists, and they all love the field. Because one of the big benefits it gives is, as you're young and aggressive and you're going out into medicine, you're able to do large surgeries, cancer surgeries, sinus surgeries, things like that.
Dr. Hanft:
But as you get a little older and you have children and you may want to tailor your practice, you can tailor your practice back to smaller things. And now like me, as I'm getting older and my practice is getting quieter, I have now restricted my practice to just office-based practice. So it is one of the few fields that really allows you to change your practice management to your lifestyle. And that's a huge benefit for women, especially when you have young children or as you get older.
Shelby:
That is really great advice. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to talk to me.
Dr. Hanft:
You're welcome, and thank you.
