Hi I’m Steve Early, I’m a pediatric otolaryngologist at The University of Virginia, that works on airway reconstructions, difficulty with breathing in children, which may include sleep apnea. I also work on children that have difficulty with hearing, other congenital abnormalities, and very specific things having to do with pediatric airway. 


I spent some time in the Soviet Union doing cleft palate work with Operation Smile, that’s always very formative. I've had the opportunity to fix children who are in their teens who had clefts of the face. By and large, pediatric otolaryngology should be something I call fun with a purpose. Is that you come in to see us, we will see you, try to make it a user friendly experience for the child, mainly because a pediatric ear, nose and throat doctor is often the first physician, or first surgeon, that a child needs. 


So consequently if they’re there for ear infections and need tubes in their ears, or for obstructive sleep apnea, and so, we try to make that as user friendly as possible, not intimidating, and try to be helpful in taking care of them. 


What’s distinctive about coming to The University of Virginia is we try to give you quality care with compassion and with excellence. When you come to see a pediatric specialist, you’re going to have a pediatric anesthesiologist. You’re going to have a team of people dedicated to the care of children, and so the Children's Hospital, while it is not a freestanding hospital, it is an embedded portion of The University of Virginia Hospital where everyone is unifocal on the care of children.