2007 ASA Resident
Research Forum
José L. Díaz-Gómez,
M.D.
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July 2004, the Resident Component Governing Council,
the ASA Section on Annual Meeting and the ASA Section
on Education and Research were proud to announce
the addition of a Resident Research Forum to that
year’s Annual Meeting program in Las Vegas.
During the first few years, areas were opened up
for any resident who had an accepted abstract and
was willing to participate.
For the fourth year in a row, the Resident Research
Forum has been included in the ASA Annual Meeting.
This time, the forum was unique for several reasons.
First, the membership was made aware in advance
as to which residents would participate. There were
473 residents whose papers were accepted, and 216
papers were presented. Around 45 percent of the
projects were presented by residents coming from
outside the United States. The forum occupied a
prominent space in Hall D at Moscone Center North
on October 13. The space was appropriate to accommodate
all attendees to the sessions. Anesthesiology residents
from the United States and 16 countries had the
opportunity to display their abstracts in 16 theme
sessions (the order of the foreign countries are
based on the number of posters presented per nation:
Germany, China, France, England, Belgium, India,
Denmark, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Thailand,
Tunisia, Taiwan, Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia
and Italy).
Secondly, thanks to the leadership of First Vice
Chair of the Section on Annual Meeting Patricia
A. Kapur, M.D., the residents responded directly
to ASA as to their ability to be there on Saturday
as well as their regular scheduled time. As a means
of further encouraging resident participation in
research and scholarly activity, Dr. Kapur could
recruit more than 30 well-known senior academic
anesthesiologists as moderators, representing the
best scientists in anesthesiology (Timothy J. Brennan,
M.D., Ph.D., Michael K. Cahalan, M.D., Keith A.
Candiotti, M.D., Jayant K. Deshpande, M.D., John
B. Downs, M.D., James C. Eisenach, M.D., Alex S.
Evers, M.D., Lee A. Fleisher, M.D., Adrian W. Gelb,
M.B., Ch.B., N. Martin Giesecke, M.D., Rona G. Giffard,
M.D., Ph.D., Allan Gottschalk, M.D., Ph.D., Joy
L. Hawkins, M.D., Thomas K. Henthorn, M.D., Roberta
L. Hines, M.D., Therese T. Horlocker, M.D., Evan
D. Kharasch, M.D., Ph.D., Samsun Lampotang, Ph.D.,
Jerrold Lerman, M.D., Lawrence Litt, M.D., Ph.D.,
Gerald A. Maccioli, M.D., Aman Mahajan, M.D., Ronald
D. Miller, M.D., Terri G. Monk, M.D., Johnathan
L. Pregler, M.D., M. Christine Stock, M.D., Avery
Tung, M.D., David B. Waisel, M.D., and Charles W.
Whitten, M.D.).
The residents had the exhilarating experience of
interacting with a “who’s who”
of academic anesthesiology. In addition to the traditional
anesthesiology subspecialties, the sessions included
unique subjects such as anesthetic action and biochemistry,
drug disposition, engineering and technology, patient
safety and practice management, geriatric anesthesia,
experimental neurosciences, history and education,
among others. The forum did not prevent residents
from also presenting their research at the usual
venues. In fact, it was a good opportunity to practice
the poster presentation before the scientific session
during the afternoon.
In its fourth year, this event continues to evolve.
The session has grown to include all residents participating
in an abstract. From the inaugural event in Las
Vegas, the forum provided a single place where residents
gathered with faculty to present their posters in
a forum of peers, see the research in which other
colleagues are involved and to exchange ideas with
some of the leaders in anesthesiology research.
The interaction between residents may enhance their
sense of belonging to the specialty.
The number of residents invited to participate is
certainly suggestive that the Resident Research
Forum is healthy and growing. Future directions
for the forum could include additional recruitment
of residents to participate, organizing a schedule
that allows residents to present at the forum, additional
scientific sessions, improved notification on the
annual meeting database to increase participation,
and perhaps incentives such as awarding participants
special recognition and prizes (educational materials,
refresher course passes, etc.).
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José L. Díaz-Gómez, M.D.,
is a CA-3 Resident Research Coordinator, Anesthesiology
Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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