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June 1997
Volume 61 |
Number 6
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FAER REPORT
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| FAER Recognizes
Research Fellows and Education Award Recipients |
This month the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research
(FAER) announces the names of several recent fellowship and education
award recipients. This month's "FAER Report" also includes
an update from the FAER Board of Directors spring meeting and
information on a new program for Clinical Research Starter Grants.
The FAER Board of Directors is pleased to announce the Anesthesiology
Research Fellowship and Educational Research Grant recipients
from the December 1996 competition. The project descriptions were
provided by the investigators.
Anesthesiology Research Fellowship
Jim Lin, M.D., University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois,
Association of University Anesthesiologists (AUA) Anesthesiology
Research Fellowship Recipient: "Mechanisms of Ischemic Preconditioning"
Ischemic preconditioning is a phenomenon where brief periods
of ischemia have been shown to provide protection against subsequent
prolonged ischemia in myocardium and brain. Using a model of
ischemic preconditioning in the in vivo rat retina that permits
simultaneous examination of retinal function and structure,
the mechanisms of preconditioning in the central nervous system
will be investigated. Three specific hypotheses will be tested:
1) adenosine is a signaling substance for preconditioning, 2)
preconditioning preserves high-energy phosphate concentration
and is associated with functional and anatomical preservation,
and 3) preconditioning prevents post-ischemic hypoperfusion.
Evidence of retinal injury will be quantitated by electroretinography
and histopathological measurements of retinal layer thicknesses
and cell counts. This study will provide new information on
the endogenous mechanisms of protection against ischemic injury
in the central nervous system. Ultimately, this information
could lead to the development of clinically relevant treatment
strategies to prevent or decrease ischemic damage.
Educational Research Grant
Karen L. Steckner, M.D., The Cleveland Clinic Foundation,
Cleveland, Ohio, Preferred Physicians Mutual (PPM) Educational
Research Grant Recipient: "Can Interactive Instruction Using
Patient Simulation Improve Clinical Teaching of Anesthesiology
Residents?"
Clinical teachers, as a rule, have had little formal instruction
in teaching methods and may benefit from the opportunity to
learn such skills while actively teaching. Anesthesia simulator-based
curricula are increasingly being incorporated into anesthesia
training programs at several centers. We propose to study the
effect of interactive instruction and feedback on teaching behaviors
in 16 faculty-resident pairs during videotaped simulator cases.
The pairs will be randomized to either control (standard simulator
session) or interventional (the same sessions facilitated by
an educational consultant) groups. Videotapes of the resident-faculty
interactions will be viewed by independent blinded observers
to rate various teaching skills exhibited at the beginning and
conclusion of the study, with the use of a rating instrument
previously developed for a residency training program. Outcomes
examined will include scores for various teaching skills pre-
and post-intervention, the faculty's self-reported interest
and knowledge of effective teaching strategies, and a qualitative
description provided by our educational consultant of the perceived
changes in teaching behavior. It is our hypothesis that an educational
consultant can help to improve clinical teaching of residents
by anesthesiologists.
Spring Meeting Update
The FAER Board of Directors meets two or three times a year in
conjunction with other anesthesia meetings, usually the Association
of University Anesthesiologists (AUA), the ASA Annual Meeting
and, until this year, the Postgraduate Assembly sponsored by the
New York State Society of Anesthesiologists. Board members attend
the FAER meetings at their own expense. The spring meeting was
held April 17 at the AUA meeting in Washington, D.C. Actions of
the Board included:
- Discussed an agreement for shared royalties between authors
and FAER. Lippincott-Raven Publishers and the authors of Anesthesia:
Biologic Foundations have agreed to donate a percentage
of book sales to FAER. Please contact the FAER Office for further
information.
- Thanked the ASA Committee on Research for reviewing and rank-scoring
the December 1996 New Investigator Award and Anesthesiology
Research Fellowship applications; also thanked the Education
Study Section for reviewing and rank-scoring the Education Research
Grant applications. The Board approved funding for the recipients
recommended by these committees.
- Asked Shirley A. Graves, M.D., to organize the 1997 Glaxo
Wellcome, Inc. Resident Scholar Program at the ASA Annual Meeting
in San Diego this October.
- Approved a proposal by Dr. Carl C. Hug, Jr., M.D., for a FAER
panel titled "Getting Ahead in Academic Medicine 1997"
at the ASA Annual Meeting.
- Please contact the FAER Office with suggestions.
- Reviewed guidelines and applications per request of potential
applicants.
- Discussed and reaffirmed the guidelines that FAER awards can
be offered only to U.S. citizens or permanent residents working
in the United States.
- Accepted the eligibility of mid-career anesthesiologists for
Research Starter Grants and Clinical Research Starter Grants
when they meet all other requirements currently stated in the
guidelines.
- Added the "development of new technologies" to the
new Clinical Research Starter Grant guidelines. The wording
remains similar to the National Institutes of Health's definition
of "clinical research."
New Program for Clinical Research Starter Grant
FAER periodically reconfigures to adjust to changing needs in
the health care arena. The Clinical Research Starter Grant is
a new grant program that will be offered for the first time in
1997. The Foundation will fund up to two Clinical Research Starter
Grants each year.
This program was developed to foster clinical inquiry and to
encourage high-quality applications particularly from members
of the subspecialty societies who co-sponsor awards with FAER.
This award is intended for anesthesiologists holding a faculty
appointment (e.g., instructor, assistant professor, associate
professor) who have not received substantial extramural funding
but who will seek to obtain other support to continue their projects
that focus on scholarly, hypothesis-based clinical studies.
"Clinical research" is defined as patient-oriented
research, which includes therapeutic interventions, clinical trials
and development of new technologies as well as studies on human
volunteers, epidemiological and biobehavioral studies, outcomes
research and health services research. Applicants must be members
of ASA. Awards provide up to $25,000 for one year and are made
to the institutions on behalf of specific individuals. The sponsoring
department or institution must agree to match the amount awarded;
the department chair must guarantee that the applicant will be
allowed 40 percent research time during the award period; and
an experienced investigator must agree to advise the recipient.
The next application deadline is July 31, 1997,
for the new Clinical Research Starter Grant and the Research Starter
Grant, Anesthesiology Research Fellowship and Educational Research
Grant.
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