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ASA NEWSLETTER
 
 
September 1997
Volume 61
Number 9
 
RESIDENTS' REVIEW

Resident Component Provides Forum for Discussion, Education

Mary Beth Wieneke, M.D., Secretary
Resident Component Governing Council



Ignorance is bliss and apathy is easy, but together they are extremely dangerous. As hardworking, dedicated physicians, we have committed years to our careers and our profession. Thus, it is imperative that we protect and strengthen our profession and its reputation. The first step toward this goal is education. For nearly a decade, the ASA Resident Component has made resident education one of its primary goals.

The specialty of anesthesiology and the medical profession as a whole are in a state of flux. During these changing times, we need to ask how residency programs are handling the shifts in resident application numbers and how their priorities have changed. We need to ask:

  • How will shifts in the number of new and graduating residents affect our current training and our future
    profession?
  • What part will nonphysician anesthesia providers play in the future?
  • Will there be a change in the quality of training
    programs and applicants?
  • Is there a way to expose medical students to the exciting world of anesthesiology earlier in their medical careers?

These questions reveal simply the tip of an iceberg. The ASA Resident Component provides a unique forum in which residents can compare notes with their colleagues and educate themselves about the issues weighing heavy on their minds.

Of course, after education comes action, action through effective leadership. The annual meeting of the ASA Resident Component provides a unique opportunity to help us put our education to work for us.

Last year at the ASA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Resident Component Governing Council offered a Resident Leadership Training/Grassroots Advocacy Workshop. This workshop set out to guide residents in their quest to become effective and successful leaders at their institutions and in their communities. Last year's workshop was so successful that it will be offered again at this year's ASA Annual Meeting in San Diego, California. This workshop is just one example of how the ASA Resident Component can help guide interested residents into becoming more involved on the local and national levels.

The ASA Resident Component has scheduled its annual meeting to coincide with the ASA Annual Meeting activities. The four planned functions of the ASA Resident Component are:

  1. Leadership Training/Grassroots Advocacy Workshop: Friday, October 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Columbia 2, San Diego Marriott.
  2. Resident Reception: Friday, October 17, from 8 to 10 p.m. in Torrey 1-2, San Diego Marriott.
  3. Resident Component House of Delegates Meeting: Saturday, October 18, from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Regency Ballroom, Hyatt Regency San Diego.
  4. Resident Forum: Sunday, October 19, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in Manchester Ballroom G, Hyatt Regency San Diego.

Residents are also encouraged to attend the two meetings of the ASA House of Delegates, which will begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday, October 19, and at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, October 22.

Other events that may be of interest to residents include the "Panel on New Practice Opportunities" scheduled for 9 a.m. until noon on Tuesday, October 21; "Panel on Managed Care Update" scheduled for 9 a.m. until 12 noon on Tuesday, October 21; and "Panel on the Changing Face of Anesthesia Care," also scheduled for 9 a.m. until noon on Tuesday. In addition, the American Board of Anesthesiology will hold an information session between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 18, in Room 6F of the San Diego Convention Center.


Mary Beth Wieneke, M.D., is a CA-4 Cardiac Fellow in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.


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