The role of an ear nose and throat specialist is extensive and very much the same in Cape Town as in any other major city of the world. It is not, however, necessarily limited to the treatment of conditions affecting the auditory system and upper respiratory tract but can extend to include plastic and reconstructive surgery to the head and neck regions. Those who choose to pursue this field ...

Much to the annoyance of some practitioners who believed their function may be seen as teaching people to wiggle their ears, the science of audiology was formerly referred to quite widely as ’auricular training’. The revised term derives from both Latin and Greek roots. A contraction formed from the Latin verb ‘audire’ meaning ‘to hear’ and the Greek noun ‘logia’ which trans...