Presidential Scholar Award: Recognizing Those Who Will
Advance Our Specialty
We cannot become what we need to be by remaining
what we are.” — Max DePree
A basic tenet of ASA’s mission is to advance and
support research in anesthesiology. Our commitment remains
strong, but we continue to face challenges.
Submissions from American authors to our world-renowned
journal Anesthesiology have declined in recent
years. In fact, about 60 percent of the articles submitted
for consideration are from researchers in countries
other than the United States. There has also been a
significant decrease in the number of applications submitted
for grants through the Foundation for Anesthesia Education
and Research (FAER) [Table
1]. While the state of the economy
and current personnel shortages in our specialty may
account for some of these declines, we can neither wish
away these obstacles nor wait for unknown forces to
set things right. Rather, we must be proactive and use
whatever means are available to prevent a lag in the
development of new knowledge.
Investigations performed by anesthesiologists into the
mechanisms of anesthesia, anesthesia practice and a
broad range of related topics are essential to the integrity
of our specialty. In an effort to stimulate scientific
advancement by recognizing colleagues who dedicate their
formative careers to research, ASA is instituting a
new program: the Presidential Scholar Award. The goal
of this award is to highlight research by young faculty
in anesthesiology departments.
Anesthesiologists who are within seven years of their
first appointment to a department of anesthesiology,
who are board-certified and who spend at least two days
a week in clinical practice are eligible for this award.
Candidates should be nominated for the award by their
department chair, who should submit each nominee’s
curriculum vitae and copies of three exemplary articles
(published or in press). Submissions should be made
no later than May 15,
2003, to:
Michael K. Cahalan, M.D., Chair
ASA Committee on Research
Department of Anesthesiology
University of Utah
30 N. 1900 E., Room 3C444
Salt Lake City, UT 84132 |
The Committee on Research will judge the applications
and select a winner. The award will be based not on
a single paper but rather on the body of research
that the attending anesthesiologist has generated.
Qualifying research can be either clinical or basic
science, but it should significantly advance the practice
of anesthesiology or the scientific basis for anesthesia
practice.
The recipient of the first Presidential Scholar Award
will be announced at the Emery A. Rovenstine Memorial
Lecture session during the ASA Annual Meeting in October
2003 in San Francisco, California. The recipient will
be asked to present his or her research, along with
the winner of the Excellence in Research Award and
the winner of the Residents’ Research Contest,
at a plenary session following the Rovenstine lecture.
ASA is committed to advancing our specialty in the
medical and scientific community. Please help us by
encouraging the nomination of candidates for the Presidential
Scholar Award and by recognizing future recipients.
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