Killing Two Birds
With One Stone: ASA Offers $1,000 Grants for Resident
Leadership and Education
Benjamin D. Unger, M.D.,
President
Resident Component Governing Council
like to consider myself of the generation of doctors
whose practice is evidence-based and data-driven.
When I think about what qualifies an ASA Resident
Component meeting as successful, I search for benchmarks
and things I can quantify. On one level, the ASA Resident
Component is doing well. At the 2005 ASA Annual Meeting
in Atlanta last October, every Resident Component
election was contested, with 11 excellent candidates
running for four positions. Moreover we raised $3,093
at a resident fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina Disaster
Relief. Many residents attended our seminars on practice
management, regional anesthesia and communications
and provided very positive feedback.
Still, vast opportunities for improvement exist. Eleven
candidates vying for four spots leaves seven resident-leaders
without an outlet to cultivate their leadership skills.
Likewise, while the hundreds of residents who attended
the Annual Meeting benefited greatly from the seminars
they attended, thousands of residents throughout the
country remain without access to that information.
Fortunately the ASA House of Delegates passed a resident
initiative at this year’s Annual Meeting that
will address both of these issues. The approved resolution
allows ASA to offer two $1,000 grants to sponsor resident-organized
regional meetings as a pilot project. Should the program
succeed, it will be expanded to five grants next year.
These grants were modeled on the “Regional Meeting
Grants” offered by the of the American Medical
Association Medical Student Section (AMA-MSS). For
more than a decade, AMA-MSS has offered $1,000 grants
to groups of medical students organizing meetings
in each of AMA’s seven regions. According to
AMA-MSS Program Administrator Danielle Bauer, “The
goal of the Regional Meetings is to reach out to those
members who cannot attend our national meetings and
get them involved in the AMA-MSS. The regional meetings
provide an educational and social program, but more
importantly, an opportunity to strengthen chapters
and… build cohesiveness within a region.”
Ms. Bauer notes that the meetings offer an educational
component focused on a theme. “These topics
are typically issues important to students, such as
student debt or international health, and the speakers
are usually local leaders in these fields. The [goal]
is to not only educate the members on the topic, but
inspire them to get involved and organize grassroots
activities.”
AMA-MSS tries to stay flexible to help better meet
the needs of medical students. For instance, AMA Region
7 (New York and New England) divides its grant in
two to support meetings in the spring and fall. Ms.
Bauer also says that socializing plays an important
role in these meetings. “Students naturally
plan some innovative social events. In some cases,
they try to theme the social event around the location
(for example, a country-and-western bar in Texas and
a casino in Las Vegas). Others have organized more
elaborate events, such as a formal sit-down dinner
at an art museum with a senator providing the keynote
address.”
I asked Ms. Bauer about students active at the regional
level going on to serve at the national level. She
responded by saying, “We have many students
who were involved at the regional level, either as
region chair or meeting coordinator and have gone
on to hold national leadership positions on our Governing
Council, AMA Councils, MSS Committees, etc. For instance,
our current Governing Council includes two members
who formerly served as their region chairs. Also,
many of our representatives on the AMA Councils and
other organizations like the NBME, NRMP and LCME,
served in leadership roles within their region.”
Ms. Bauer points out that a critical aspect is fostering
leadership skills. “I think that there is no
doubt that the key to students’ involvement
at the national level is early involvement at the
regional level. These positions provide a stepping
stone for leadership roles within the national AMA
and MSS.”
While I am very happy about the current state of affairs
within the ASA Resident Component, I also see great
opportunities to expand opportunities for resident
leadership and education. I am very excited that ASA
has chosen to initiate a program of regional meeting
grants that has been so successful at AMA-MSS.
How to Apply for a Grant
E-mails with the application information should be
sent to ASA Resident Component President Benjamin
D. Unger, M.D., at <gthunger1@hotmail.com>
by February 15, 2006. Application
information should include primary resident contact
name, list of other residents involved with meeting
planning, along with their institution and e-mail
addresses, description of meeting location and logistics,
budget proposal, proposed date(s) of event (should
be before October 6), proposed agenda and speakers,
attached letter from state society (which should express
support and hopefully pledge of matching funds), attached
copies of proposed event flier that mentions ASA and,
if applicable, state society sponsorship. Information
about the geographical location that the event is
expected to draw from as well as plans for getting
information to target residents also is useful.
Using the money to expand on already existing resident
meetings is allowed. Weight will be given to programs
that include resident leadership and attendance from
multiple institutions. Residents should feel free
to contact Dr. Unger with any questions.
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Benjamin
D. Unger, M.D., is a CA-3 resident at the University
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. |
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