ike so many other physicians every year, I have recently made the transition from training at a tertiary, academic center to practicing in a private community setting. I truly believe that the quality of my residency and fellowship training was on a par with the very best in the country. Because of my outstanding clinical preparation, I entered private practice with cautious confidence. Despite excellent training, however, there have been challenges along the way. From speaking with young anesthesiologists from around the country, I know that my experience is not unique. Throughout my career, both as a resident and now as a private practitioner, I have maintained active involvement in ASA. I hope that by sharing some of the insights I have gained from that experience, I can help others to make the transition more smoothly.

Hopefully all active members of the Society are aware that ASA generously supports an active Resident Component, which currently consists of more than 5,800 members. Since its formation in 1988, the Resident Component has grown from a fledgling operation into a full-fledged component society with voting privileges both at ASA Board of Directors meetings and in the ASA House of Delegates. Hundreds of residents attended the October 2004 Resident Component activities at the ASA Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. Resident Component activities now span two full days, climaxing with the meeting of the Resident Component House of Delegates. Here trainees from all over the country debate and vote on issues of interest to residents.

What was surprising to me as a member of the Resident Component Governing Council was not the level of resident interest, but rather the level of commitment among ASA leadership to issues of interest to residents. In fact, beginning in 2004, resident representation in the ASA House of Delegates increased from one to five voting members. In an effort to increase resident involvement in the workings of the society, ASA maintains one spot for a resident representative on almost every standing committee.

In 2002 I was appointed as the resident representative to the Committee on Communications. After an inspiring year, I was granted the somewhat unusual privilege of retention as an adjunct member of the same committee, a position in which I continue today. Perhaps due to the particular functions of the Committee on Communications, I have grown in my understanding of how the Society operates. Certainly due to the outstanding leadership, both from volunteer physician members and the professional administrative staff, I have grown in my understanding of how ASA fits into my career.

The strategic goals of the Committee on Communications include: 1) providing education to members and improving public education as it relates to anesthesiology; 2) creating mechanisms to support practice management programs, improving communications and marketing of the specialty, and identifying and promoting professional opportunities; and 3) advocating for the needs of patients, the public and ASA members with state and federal governmental entities, third-party payers, consumer groups and other professional organizations.

To achieve these goals, we meet as a committee two to three times per year but communicate via telephone, e-mail, and “snail mail” far more frequently. In my experience, the most rewarding project of the committee has been the production of a patient education videotape, which was underwritten by Baxter Healthcare and jointly developed with the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. This video is available to all members in both VHS and DVD format and represents what is really one of the fundamental goals of the Committee on Communications — collaboration with colleagues both within and outside the specialty to improve educational materials available to patients.

On a smaller and somewhat less formal scale, the committee has increasingly looked for opportunities to provide a presence for ASA at the meetings of other specialty societies. We strive to find local anesthesiologists willing to volunteer their time to promote the specialty when the annual meetings of other specialty societies are held in their towns. As a resident, I had the privilege of representing ASA twice at the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Student Association. It was fascinating to hear the preconceptions of medical students regarding anesthesiology as a career and rewarding to set them straight! As we begin to reap the rewards of our efforts, evidenced by an increasing volume of invitations to attend and participate in meetings, it is a reminder that every interaction with every patient, every surgeon and every consultant is a golden opportunity to promote the value of our specialty simply through the virtues of professionalism.

Professionalism is really at the center of ASA, and it is the virtue that has helped me most to transition from my role as a resident-in-training to private practitioner. Every professional struggles with competing demands — family, career, finances and time. In academic practice, the struggle is complicated by the requirement to teach residents and to publish research. In private practice, it is complicated by pressure to perform quickly and cost-effectively. Of course there is overlap; there is production pressure in academia, and there is pressure to teach or serve on hospital committees in the private realm. My biggest fear in leaving the “ivory tower” for the “greener pasture” was that I would grow bored. So far that has definitely not been a problem! I have found new challenges in private practice, as I have taken on some responsibility for continuing education, teaching medical and paramedic students and finding ways to make my practice more efficient. Every day I strive to take the very best care of my patients despite these pressures. I believe that the best way to serve as an ambassador for our profession is to impress our patients and their families with the quality of care we provide. Involvement in ASA has helped to keep my focus on that mission as I have moved away from the more formal structure of academia.

I hope that ASA will continue to find eager young anesthesiologists whose energy is ripe to be tapped to continue the work of the Society. I know that those young physicians will reap several-fold the rewards of their service.

James F. Weller, M.D., is Staff Anesthesiologist, Bethesda North Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio.