Aim: To report the activity of the Otorhinolaryngology Research Society (ORS) from its' founding in 1978 until dissolution in 2017.
Method: Data were obtained, (Minutes of Council Meetings, and Correspondence) from the Societies website (now closed and archived), and relevant documents and e-mails that pervious secretaries and treasurers of ORS and The British Society of Academics in Otolaryngology (BSAO) had available. The secretarial documents of the ORS, the first 20 years, had been reported "lost," and the data retained on website were incomplete.
Ethical consideration: No patient data have been used in this publication.
Results: The first constitution of ORS was based on that of the Surgical Research Society and was brief and simple, with two meetings per year, awarding prizes and bursaries for the best presentations. The Society initially limited to 250 members. The constitution of ORS was revised in 1988 and modified again in 2006, which expanded the council and disbanded the need for membership.
Conclusion: The changing priorities of trainees and commercialisation of the National Health Service had resulted in running any society costly. The amalgamation of the ORL Research Societies as a Specialty Group within ENT UK to organise and run the national research agenda is likely to result in a more cohesive group with financial stability and a secure and stable environment.
Keywords: United Kingdom; otorhinolaryngological; research; society.
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