For five days, October 11-15, 2003, attendees at this year’s ASA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, were greeted with clear, blue skies, warm temperatures and the usual wide array of activities that the city always offers visitors – not exactly the most conducive environment for academic exercise. But the educational activities offered inside the Moscone Center won out, and this year’s meeting broke new ground in excellence of anesthesiology educational offerings.

Total attendance for the 2003 Annual Meeting was 17,282, including 10,340 anesthesiologists and related professionals, 3,432 exhibitors, 47 exhibitor guests and 3,463 spouses. It was the fourth largest in ASA’s history and the largest meeting in terms of the number of educational sessions offered. Attending ASA members were treated to a highly popular, first-ever cadaver workshop this year. Also, expanded small-group educational opportunities in research and pain medicine proved that the Annual Meeting is keeping its finger on the pulse of current trends and that ASA members are keeping anesthesiology’s pulse healthy in impressive numbers. Highlights from this year’s meeting appear below.

Review Procedure for Expert Witness Testimony Adopted
The House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved procedures for reviewing and taking action against any ASA member whose expert witness testimony is inconsistent with the newly revised “Guidelines for Expert Witness Qualification and Testimony.” A description of the new program is contained on page 6 of this NEWSLETTER.

Installation of ASA President
Roger W. Litwiller, M.D., was installed as ASA President for 2004. Dr. Litwiller has served as President-Elect (2003), First Vice-President (2002), as Delegate, House of Delegates (2001), Board of Directors (1990-present), former District 28 (Virginia) Director (2001) and Chair of the committees on Finance (1998-00), Governmental Affairs (2001) and Physician Resources (1997-99). He also served as Chair of the ASAPAC Executive Board (1991-97) and as a member of several ASA committees. Dr. Litwiller is in private practice in Roanoke, Virginia.

ASA Officers

President-Elect: Eugene P. Sinclair, M.D.

First Vice-President: Orin F. Guidry, M.D.

Immediate Past President: James E. Cottrell, M.D.

Vice-President for Scientific Affairs: Bruce F. Cullen, M.D.

Vice-President for Professional Affairs: Alexander A. Hannenberg, M.D.

Secretary: Peter L. Hendricks, M.D.

Assistant Secretary: Gregory K. Unruh, M.D.

Treasurer: Roger A. Moore, M.D.

Assistant Treasurer: John M. Zerwas, M.D.

Speaker of the House of Delegates: Candace E. Keller, M.D.

Vice-Speaker of the House of Delegates: John P. Abenstein, M.D.

As a first-time ASA officer, Alexander A. Hannenberg, M.D., will serve in the newly created position of Vice-President for Professional Affairs. Dr. Hannenberg will oversee the Division of Professional Affairs, which encompasses the Section on Professional Standards and Section on Professional Practice and the 12 committees that fall under the two sections. Dr. Hannenberg is a member of the House of Delegates (1987-present), Chair of the committees on Administrative Affairs (2002-03) and Economics (2002-03) and has been Director of former District 2 (Massachusetts) since 1997. He was President of the Massachusetts Society of Anesthesiologists in 1996 and remains active in a variety of state society activities. He also is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society House of Delegates and is a member of the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research Board of Directors. Dr. Hannenberg is Associate Chair of the Department of Anesthesia at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Newton, Massachusetts.

Assistant Treasurer John M. Zerwas, M.D., also is a first-time ASA officer. Dr. Zerwas has served as Director for former District 19 (Texas) from 2002-03 and is former Chair of the Committee on Governmental Affairs (2001-03). He is also Alternate Delegate to the American Medical Association (2000-present) and is a member of the Committee on Quality Management and Departmental Administration, Committee on Practice Management and the ASA Political Action Committee Executive Board. He was President of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists (TSA) in 1996-97 and remains active in TSA’s legislative bodies and committees. Dr. Zerwas is an anesthesiologist at Greater Houston Anesthesiology, PA, in Houston, Texas. He resides in Richmond, Texas.

ASA 2004 Officers The 2003 ASA officers are (front row from left): Eugene P. Sinclair, M.D.; ASA President Roger W. Litwiller, M.D.; James E. Cottrell, M.D.; Orin F. Guidry, M.D.; (middle row) Alexander A. Hannenberg, M.D.; Peter L. Hendricks, M.D.; Roger A. Moore, M.D.; Bruce F. Cullen, M.D.; (back row) John M. Zerwas, M.D.; Candace E. Keller, M.D.; John P. Abenstein, M.D.; and Gregory K. Unruh, M.D.

Awards and Honors
ASA’s Distinguished Service Award, the highest recognition given by the Society to an individual anesthesiologist, was presented to Bernard V. Wetchler, M.D. Dr. Wetchler served as ASA President in 1995 and was arguably the most important figure in the explosive growth of ambulatory anesthesiology in the past three decades. He is Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.

The 2003 Award for Excellence in Research was presented to Mervyn Maze, M.B., Ch.B., of Imperial College, London, United Kingdom. Aside from Dr. Maze’s inspirational research leadership in the specialty, his work has led to the understanding of the process by which a2 agonists produce sedation and analgesia, which was virtually unknown before his research. He is currently initiating clinical trials that will reveal the efficacy of xenon as a clinical neuroprotective agent.

The Emery A. Rovenstine Memorial Lecture, “Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction: The Next Challenge in Geriatric Anesthesia,” was presented by Terri G. Monk, M.D., Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Monk has spearheaded research on postoperative cognitive dysfunction, a recently described phenomenon that threatens to impact anesthesiology, medicine in general and an aging U.S. population.

2003 also marked the inaugural year for the Annual Presidential Scholar Award. The first recipient of the award was Peter J. Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. The award was instituted to highlight young faculty who are dedicated to advancing the specialty through research and scientific investigation. Dr. Pronovost spoke at the Annual Meeting’s First Annual Celebration of Research symposium on “Making a Difference: From Hypothesis to Policy — the ICU Story.”

Media Awards
The 2003 ASA Media Award was shared by Lila Guterman of The Chronicle of Higher Education for her November 29 article, “Battling for Hearts and Minds,” and Theresa Wells of the University of California-Davis for a television segment featuring anesthesiologists titled “Pulse.” Ms. Guterman’s article explored the troubling new phenomenon of postoperative cognitive dysfunction and featured ASA Immediate Past President James E. Cottrell, M.D., and Terri G. Monk, M.D. Ms. Wells’ television segment aired on February 23, 2003, in the Sacramento, California, market and featured the day-to-day trials and triumphs of anesthesiologists working in a hospital setting.

Scientific and Education Exhibit Award
The First-Place Scientific and Education Exhibit Award went to Daniel D. Wambold, M.D., and Andrew D. Rosenberg, M.D., from the Hospital of Joint Diseases, New York, New York, and P. Prithvi Raj, M.D., and Thomas Sims for “Learning Brachial Plexus Techniques With the Aid of a Computerized Simulator.” For a complete list of Exceptional Merit Award winners, see the article on page 19 by Committee on Scientific and Education Exhibits Chair Andrew D. Rosenberg, M.D.