In order to reflect the evolving changes of the current international focus and to be consistent with the broader scopes of our members practice, this society has been hereby officially renamed, in February, 2018, to "Taiwan Society of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery", or in short, "TSOHNS".
The Otolaryngological Society of Republic of China (OSROC) was founded in 1965, under the leadership of several prominent specialty leaders, such as L.D. Wang, L.C. Fang, S.M. Tu, C. Lee, L.S. Yang, W.F. Fu, D.C. Liao, B.F. Lung, T. Hsieh, C.K. Hsiao, and C.K. Su. These founding members convened on July 18th, 1965 at the conference room of the Department of Otolaryngology, National Taiwan University, and elected S.M. Tu as the chairman of the organizing committee, to take stewardship of the organizing work.
The Society was formally established on November 14th, 1965, and the first member congress held at the National Taiwan University Surgical Auditorium (7th auditorium), with 102 participating members. The first president elected by members of the society was S.M. Tu, and C.K. Su was the appointed secretary. The established function of the society was to raise the medical standards of the specialty, promote research, exchange of knowledge and promote friendship between members and with other international otolaryngological societies.
Professor S.M. Tu was elected as president for the first five consecutive terms of the society. Under his leadership, the society established the tradition of holding two separate conference meetings a year, the main meeting to be held in Taipei each autumn, while the spring May meeting held at other regions on the island, to promote participation from all members. The society also joined the International Federation of Otorhinolaryngological Societies (IFOS) on March, 1957, and began the first step of academic dialogue on an international level. The society’s official publication, “Journal of the Otolaryngological Society of Republic of China” was also sent to print on June of that same year, as a platform for members to exchange and disseminate research and knowledge. The journal was published bi-monthly since 1995, with additional special editions published as necessary. The journal’s official name was changed to “The Journal of Taiwan Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery” in 1993 to better reflect its content.
The “Society Newsletter” was launched in 1990 under the then president Tayron Wang, and was published four times a year. The initial purpose was a communiqué on the policy and secretarial news to members. After 1992, under the leadership of president K. N. Lin, major alterations in the content and layout was made to the newsletter and met popular approval with members, and the newletter became the second official journal for the society, with the publisher being the current president.
The society has undergone 50 years since its inception, the succeeding presidents after S.M. Tu being M.M. Hsu, D. Hsieh, S.Y. Chang, Tayron Wang, K.N. Lin ,C.C. Hsu, A.S. Shiao, F.P. Lee and T.Y. Hsiao, and the current president Y.S. Lin from the Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital. After many years of effort, the society membership has over 2,600 (full members 2,407, corresponding members 252) from all over the country. The society has become Taiwan otolaryngologists’ most representative organization in the medical community, and since the implementation of the Universal Health Insurance, became the patient and member advocate in bring the best of otolaryngological care possible within the reasonable purchasing powers of public insurance.
To better reflect the current social philosophy, the official name of the organization was changed to “Taiwan Otolaryngological Society” in November, 2004.