Douglas R. Bacon, M.D., Editor

A Milestone — The Gala Alliance

ilestones have a way of hitting you when you least expect it. It was a perfect June evening in southeastern Minnesota. The temperature as the graduates marched out of school was 82 degrees. The sky was pale blue, and there wasn’t a cloud within view. The stage was set at the 50-yard line at the combined football and track and field stadium. My eldest son was in the processional as he prepared to graduate from high school. Charlie, like his three younger brothers, is a unique child. A gifted musician with perfect pitch, he is an avid reader of science fiction. His unique perspective on the world has always intrigued me. There are many days when I listen to him practice and wish that I could play the piano, my chosen instrument, in his league, but realize that I have neither the talent nor the patience to practice enough to come even close to his level of sophistication. We often exchange ideas about good books: I try to get him to read more history, and he bombards me with science fiction. Grudgingly we have realized that we both enjoy the other’s favorites, although often without the passion the recommender gives.

As I watched Charlie cross the stage and receive his diploma, one of more than 400 students to do so that evening, I knew I was alongside one of life’s milestones. The tiny baby, head covered in dark hair, had become a 6' 3'' man, full of all the joys and contradictions of a mature teenager. And I, too, realized that I had changed. I no longer needed to always be everything to my son. He has begun to understand that I am not perfect and to appreciate me for what I am — his father. That realization makes our relationship click. My hope is that we will always be there for one another; but he is no longer a child, and we will both struggle to reach a new understanding of each other. Yet our alliance as father and son remains intact, and strong.

Our local newspaper, the Rochester Post-Bulletin, ran a front-page story about two young pediatric patients leaving the hospital. Surrounding the two children and their parents was the medical team that cared for them. Surgeons, pediatricians, anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists, nurses, operating room technicians, intensivists and anyone who cared for the girls were present. The reason for the send-off was simple — the patients were conjoined twins who were separated through the technology of modern medicine applied by the people surrounding the girls. Yet the remarkable part of this story is not the separation, for that has been accomplished many times, but rather the alliance between surgeons and anesthesiologists and between all members of the team who worked to bring this miracle about. In point of fact, the lead anesthesiologist, Randall P. Flick, M.D., was asked to come to the postsurgical press conference. Read Dr. Flick’s account in this issue, for it points to the alliance between surgeons and anesthesiologists as it ought to exist.

What, though, is the Gala Alliance that is referred to in this article’s title?

A formal gala dinner planned for the 2005 Annual Meeting in New Orleans was a capstone to the centennial celebration. Unfortunately the gala was big enough that it could not be moved to Atlanta in the time allowed following the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. Thus one of the last acts of the celebration will be held in Chicago — the Centennial Gala. The famed Second City comedy troupe will entertain, and there will be a sit-down dinner. The loyalty of ASA members is astounding — a large number of New Orleans ticket holders are planning to celebrate in Chicago. The proceeds from this dinner will be divided between the four foundations of ASA. So helping to celebrate the 101st year of ASA also benefits the future of the specialty.
Support for the foundations is critical. The Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER), which has been the leader in organization of the gala and has taken the financial risk, is crucial to the development of young faculty members in academic departments. Through the grants offered by FAER, many junior anesthesiologists have the opportunity to pursue their research interests. As money from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has become scarcer, FAER will be even more important to academic anesthesiology. Without funds, however, FAER cannot distribute grants, and consequently all of anesthesiology will suffer in the long run.

The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) has been and continues to be a leader in making anesthesia less hazardous for patients. The foundation’s work has been recognized by the medical community as a whole with similar groups being organized in specialties and general medicine. The work of APSF and anesthesiology has been noted by the Institute of Medicine and by insurance carriers for helping to bring about a decline in insurance premiums. It is the support of ASA members and the vision of the leadership of our organization that created APSF in the 1980s. Our continued support of the organization has helped all of anesthesiology and even the entire house of medicine. The future holds much for APSF if financial support continues.

The Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology (WLM), of which I am the Secretary-Treasurer of the Board of Trustees, is charged with preserving the past of the specialty while keeping current with the knowledge in the field. The library of this foundation is indeed as active with books, journals and every amenity that one would expect in a working library. Need a reference from the Japanese Journal of Anesthesiology? The WLM staff can provide a copy from the collection to any ASA member, often during the same day. The museum records the past, often in three-dimensional objects that can be seen and scrutinized to help understand their function. The importance of research and development within the specialty is evident with a walk through the museum gallery in Park Ridge, Illinois. Acquisitions and preservation cost money, however, and ASA’s generous support of this foundation has made possible its rise as the best specialty-specific library-museum in the country.

The “newest” foundation in ASA’s fold is actually one of the oldest. The Anesthesia Foundation was set up in 1956 and serves to help residents under financial stress with low-interest loans to finish their training. There have been few, if any, defaults in this program. In carrying out its charitable mission, the Anesthesia Foundation was in position to play a critical role in helping many anesthesiology residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Yet if there were more money in the foundation’s coffers, even more help could be given.

As ASA passes the century milestone, anesthesiology and the Society are no longer in childhood, nor even adolescence, among medical specialties. Our history is replete with examples of professionalism that would make even Hippocrates proud. There have been stumbles along the way — yet, warts and all, ASA has made a difference in our patients’ lives, and in the professional life of every anesthesiologist. Like my relationship with my eldest son, ASA continues to grow and to seek new avenues for the specialty while holding fast to our traditional place in American medicine. Our alliance with our patients and our professional colleagues remains strong. The “Gala Alliance” will help the foundations to continue their mission and raise funds in a united effort. The gala also demonstrates that ASA is one of the premier specialty organizations in American medicine. Join the gala at the Annual Meeting in October, and celebrate the milestone <faer.org/asacentennial.php>!

— D.R.B.

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