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Another Step Forward
ASA and the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
(AANA) held their second joint meeting on March 22-23,
2004, in Chicago, Illinois. The positive and constructive
atmosphere of the first meeting continued. As a result
of the commitment to address issues of mutual interest,
the following work was completed.
A topic of discussion was the issue of patient awareness
under anesthesia. We agreed to jointly address the
awareness issue through the following plan:
- A letter will be sent to the Joint Commission
on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations over
the signature of the ASA and AANA presidents opposing
the establishment of a Standard for Brain Function
Monitoring Under General Anesthesia.
- A joint public relations brochure regarding awareness
will be developed.
- A joint statement addressing the issue will be
posted on the ASA and AANA Web sites for both members
and the public.
The focus of these activities will be to allay patient
fears, to affirm our joint commitment to reducing
the incidence of awareness and to affirm the need
for practice standards to be evidence-based.
We also agreed to a strategy of including future leaders
and staff in this process to assure continuity and
success. Future meeting dates were confirmed.
AANA and ASA met again in April to continue to discuss
issues of mutual interest and concern.
Roger W. Litwiller, M.D.,
ASA President
Tom L. McKibban, CRNA, M.S.,
AANA President
AMA
Meeting to Include Issues for Section Council
Officials from the Society’s Section Council
on Anesthesiology of the American Medical Association
(AMA) would like to know the names of the ASA members
planning to attend the AMA’s House of Delegates
on June 12-16, 2004, in Chicago, Illinois.
The Section Council is open to all anesthesiologists
who attend the AMA House of Delegates meeting. The
Section Council meets to discuss resolutions and other
issues of importance to anesthesiologists. Meetings
usually take place on Saturday and Monday of the AMA
House of Delegates meeting. If you are attending the
House of Delegates meeting, the Society would welcome
your participation.
To be placed on the mailing list to receive information
about the Society’s AMA Section Council meetings,
please send your name, address, telephone number,
fax number and reason for attendance to Denise M.
Jones at the ASA Executive Office, 520 N. Northwest
Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068-2573; fax (847) 825-2085;
or e-mail <d.jones@ASAhq.org>.
Nominations
Sought for Media Award
Each year ASA accepts entries for the ASA Media Award,
a distinction given to one or more outstanding media
presentations that effectively inform and educate the
public about the practice of anesthesiology.
The Committee on Communications encourages members to
submit or nominate local media presentations from broadcast
(television or radio) and print (newspaper or magazine)
media and Web-based news site articles. Increased interest
generated in this award will result in a greater number
of presentations on the subject of anesthesiology.
The winner receives a plaque and the opportunity to
attend the presentation ceremony during the ASA Annual
Meeting. The 2004 Media Award will be presented on Sunday,
October 24, at the ASA Annual Meeting in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
Deadline for the submission of entries is June
1, 2004, for media presentations released between
June 1, 2003, and May 31, 2004. Any entries received
after the deadline will be carried over to the next
year.
Two awards were given in 2003. Writing for The Chronicle
of Higher Education, Lila Guterman received an
award for a November 29, 2003, article titled “Battling
for Hearts and Minds,” which explored the magnitude
and causes of postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Theresa
Wells of the University of California-Davis won for
a television segment titled “Pulse,” which
featured “a day in the life” of an anesthesiologist
in a hospital setting.
Up to four ASA Media Awards may be given each year for
media presentations that inform and educate the public
about the medical practice of anesthesiology.
All entries should be sent to R. Lawrence Sullivan,
Jr., M.D., Chair, Committee on Communications, American
Society of Anesthesiologists, 520 N. Northwest Highway,
Park Ridge, IL 60068-2573.
2003
PBLD CD-ROMs Still Available
The 2003 Problem-Based Learning Discussions (PBLD)
CD-ROM is available at a cost of $20 per copy. (The
price of the PBLD Program was incorrectly listed at
$15 in the February 2004 NEWSLETTER.) This
CD presents the 130 cases discussed during the PBLD
Program at the 2003 ASA Annual Meeting. For educational
purposes, it allows the learner to read each case
and its objectives, review the model discussion and
references, and then embark upon an individual study
program to identify and solve the problems posed in
each case.
To purchase a copy, send a check payable to the American
Society of Anesthesiologists for $20 (Illinois residents,
add 8.25-percent sales tax) to the ASA Publications
Department, 520 N. Northwest Highway, Park Ridge,
IL 60068-2573.
American
Board of Medical Specialties Distinguished Service Award
to Be Presented to James F. Arens, M.D.
James F. Arens, M.D., was a director of the American
Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) from 1975-87 and served
as its president from 1986-87. He was a leader in the
first attempt to establish a single certification process
in a multidisciplinary specialty and was instrumental
in establishing the ABA process for subspecialty certification
in critical care medicine. He continues to remain active
in the ABA certification process by serving as an oral
examinator.
He served ABMS continuously for more than 20 years as
a voting representative from ABA and a member of several
committees, including the Executive Committee, and then
as President of ABMS from 1996-98. He has been an ABMS
representative to the Accreditation Council for Graduate
Medical Education and a member of the Anesthesiology
Residency Review Committee since 1997 and its chair
from 2000-03.
His nomination letter concludes, “Dr. Arens has
served ABMS and the medical specialty certification
movement, ABA and the specialty of anesthesiology, graduate
medical education and the medical profession with distinction
throughout his career.” Dr. Arens served as ASA
President in 1989.
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