Education is a great responsibility; equally so for the teacher and student. Knowledge imparted during the trainee years forms the foundation of a surgeon's clinical practice; most of the times consciously, yet often at a subconscious level too. This takes more importance during the development of surgical skills, where subtle nuances give the edge, and discern the competent from the mediocre. Skills honed by watching, reading, listening, watching more, and finally performing take years to develop; and yet, the learning process never stops. A surgeon stops learning only in his grave. It may take a lifetime to develop certain skills, and a shorter period for others, yet, each skill even once learned needs polishing and refinement-there are no shortcuts to learning.

Times have changed. The field of ENT has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past two decades. With the development of excellent technology, have emerged comparable educational tools. From the time when we were resident trainee doctors, to today, numerous avenues have emerged for the enthusiastic student. Yet, there are times when one needs to travel and visit numerous centers in one's lifetime to observe and learn, with most centers imparting specialist training of certain skills, but usually never all of them.

This atlas has been the birth-child of a need for a single-stop for surgical skills in the field of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, including all its allied faculties, in an attempt to bring a global perspective under one roof. It has its limitations, and is certainly not exhaustive; yet it aims to spur the interest of the reader for most procedures, with a reference for further suggested reading if needed. The emphasis is on surgical technique, and most chapters would thus focus on this aspect mainly.

The video atlas which will soon follow would be an added tool to recapitulate each surgical procedure, as if watching it in real time!