The Department of ENT was formally instituted in SJMCH in April 1983. The HOD at the time was Dr M. V. Venkatesh Murthy. In 1984, an Audiology & Speech Pathology Section was added and over the last 40 years has grown tremendously under the various leaderships of Dr Geetha Chary, Dr Ravi Nayak.

In 1984, an Audiology & Speech Pathology Section was added in OPD, which functioned with a skeleton staff on and off till 1990, when the current head, Ms Nagapoornima, joined. Since then, the Section has added on more staff, and offers all manner of investigations, management and therapy in Audiology and Speech Pathology.

By March 1998, the Department was divided into 2 units comprising 4 consultants each. From then on, alternate days were allotted to each unit for Outpatient consultation, along with separate OT days. This led to more time for research and publications as well as intensification of teaching programs. Currently the department comprises of 12 consultants and offers all possible services in the field.