Otolaryngology (commonly referred to as “ENT Surgery”) is the field of medicine dedicated to the medical and surgical treatment of conditions that affect the head and neck regions of our bodies including the Ears, Nose, and Throat. The field of otolaryngology also encompasses hearing and communication disorders along with plastic and reconstructive surgery of the face and neck including cleft lip and palate surgery. ENT disorders in children can affect hearing, learning, speech/vocalizing, swallowing/feeding, and sleep–all functions integral to normal development in growing children.
Pediatric doctors and surgeons know that “children are not just small adults” which is why pediatric otolaryngologists electively pursue additional training above and beyond the 5 years of surgical training required to become a general ENT surgeon. This extra training focuses on the medical and surgical management of problems unique to infants, children, and adolescents. Dr. Hotchkiss and Dr. Mitchell have a passion for caring for children, and thus they pursued this additional fellowship training in pediatric otolaryngology in addition to obtaining board certification. Moreover, our audiology team is solely pediatric focused as well. Dr. Camacho and Dr. Pawlowski both obtained Doctorates in Audiology and have focused experience in caring for pediatric populations.
Many of the disorders that affect the head and neck are only seen in children. Other conditions may be treated quite differently in a child compared to an adult. At Tampa Children’s ENT, our focus is exclusively on the treatment of your child—whether a newborn infant or an adolescent. We formulate an individualized treatment plan for your child. Moreover, every surgery we perform is done alongside a pediatric anesthesiologist. Caring for children and their families is not something we occasionally do, it is 100% of our practice.
