Financial Disclosure: Dr. Sims is receiving an honorarium from NW Voice for presenting. He has no other financial relationships to disclose. 

Non-Financial Disclosure: Dr. Sims has no non-financial disclosures.

H. Steven Sims, MD, FACS​​

Dr. H. Steven Sims is a board-certified Laryngologist and Director of the Chicago Institute for Voice Care at the University of Illinois Chicago Medical Center.  He chose a career in professional voice care as an extension of his two passions:  medicine and singing.  He is from musical family and is an accomplished baritone and instrumentalist.  He plays trombone, bassoon, and piano and sang in choirs during his undergraduate studies at Yale University.  After completing Yale Medical School he secured a research fellowship at the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders before a residency at Yale Otolaryngology.  He completed a fellowship in care of the professional voice at Vanderbilt University. 

He is committed to identifying and addressing healthcare disparities as well as the effects of structural racism on medical education and the practice of medicine.  He leads the anti-racism curriculum at UIC College of Medicine and was appointed during the Obama administration as an advisor to the National Institute of Health.

​  Keynote: On The Road Again: Essential Items for the Touring Toolkit

 When either an individual artist or a multi-artist line-up decides to mount a tour, there are many considerations that factor into the   cost:benefit analysis.  Touring provides the artist an inimitable chance to share live experiences with a community of avid   consumers.  The wonderful energy of creating music moves closer to regions and even the homes of an adoring public.   By touring,   the artists become more accessible both physically and in conceptualization.  There is something personal and interactive about life   performances that cannot be manufactured or duplicated fully in recordings.  The same is true for musical theatre actors and   musicians.

 However, touring can present novel obstacles and challenges to maintaining health:  physical, mental, and vocal.  We will talk about   tour preparation and provide advice for some habits and practices that can make touring easier.​​

Panel: Snake Oil or Sage Advice: Medical Evidence, Opinions and Superstitions   to Keep the Performing Larynx Healthy