eloved the world over, one of San Francisco’s many monikers is “Everyone’s Favorite City.” It may be the most boastful of nicknames, but The City by the Bay always backs up its boasts with numbers: San Francisco has attracted more attendees to ASA Annual Meetings than any other city by far. The city’s 1994 attendance record of 18,377 stood until 2004. Chicago in 2006 topped out at 18,497, but that record was to be short-lived, as (guess who?!) San Francisco shattered that record by almost 1,000, with a total of 19,473. That number included 8,029 members, 3,198 spouses, 4,021 exhibitors, 1,932 nonmembers and 2,293 “others” (nurse anesthetists, anesthesiologist assistants, respiratory therapists, nonmember presenters, etc.).

We suspect that the city’s environs have much to do with these attendance numbers, but it’s also certain that ASA’s every-improving educational content draws progressively larger numbers of attendees as well. The growing pains resulting from incorporating all educational content into the learning track system in 2006 have almost completely been overcome. The 10 learning track committees drew upon last year’s experiences and efficiently presented attendees with informative, provocative and exciting educational content in a growing number of subspecialty tracks: ambulatory anesthesia, cardiac anesthesia, critical care, neuroanesthesia, obstetric anesthesia, pain medicine, pediatric anesthesia, regional anesthesia and (new for 2007) fundamentals of anesthesiology and professional issues. The Section on Annual Meeting is already considering new sessions for 2008 in Orlando.

2007 will surely be remembered as a banner year for ASA not just for yet another record-breaking, seamlessly structured Annual Meeting but also for being the genesis year of the ASA Organizational Improvement Initiative. The Initiative is a multi-year project overseen by ASA’s officers that seeks to expand and improve best practices at ASA headquarters in Park Ridge, Illinois, and in Washington, D.C. The progenitors of the Initiative understood that to keep up with a changing and increasingly complex health care environment, similar progress needed to be seen in the coming years among ASA staff. The Organizational Improvement Initiative will move ASA far beyond the status quo and strives to cement the Society’s reputation as the leading subspecialty organization in the world for decades to come.

Other highlights of the 2007 Annual Meeting follow.

Installation of ASA President
Jeffrey L. Apfelbaum, M.D., was installed as 2008 ASA President. Dr. Apfelbaum has previously served ASA as President-Elect (2007), First Vice President (2006), Delegate (2003-present) to the AMA Section Council on Anesthesiology, chair of the committees on Ambulatory Surgical Care (1992-95), Quality Management and Departmental Administration (2001-05) and Refresher Courses (2001-02), and chair of the Task Force on Intraoperative Awareness and Brain Function Monitoring (2005).

He is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, University of Chicago, and a member of the Executive Committees of Pritzker School of Medicine and Medical Staff, University of Chicago Hospitals.

Dr. Apfelbaum received his M.D. from Northwestern University School of Medicine, and was an intern (medicine) at Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, Philadelphia. He served his residency and fellowship (anesthesiology) at the University of Pennsylvania.

He and his wife, Carol, live in Northbrook, Illinois, with their two children.

Other ASA Officers

• President-Elect
Roger A. Moore, M.D.

• Immediate Past President
Mark J. Lema, M.D., Ph.D.

• First Vice President
Alexander A. Hannenberg, M.D.

• Vice President for Scientific Affairs
Charles W. Otto, M.D.

• Vice President for Professional Affairs
Robert E. Johnstone, M.D.

• Secretary
Gregory K. Unruh, M.D.

• Assistant Secretary
Arthur M. Boudreaux, M.D.

• Treasurer
John M. Zerwas, M.D.

• Assistant Treasurer
James D. Grant, M.D.

• Speaker, House of Delegates
Candace E. Keller, M.D.

• Vice-Speaker, House of Delegates
John P. Abenstein, M.D.

Robert E. Johnstone, M.D., newly elected Vice President for Professional Affairs, is a first-time ASA Officer.

Dr. Johnstone is currently a Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at West Virginia University, Morgantown. He served as chair of that department from 1996-2004. Previously he has served ASA as Director from West Virginia (2002-07), Alternate Director, Virginia-West Virginia (2001-02), Delegate from West Virginia (1996-2001) and has been Chair of the Committee on Practice Management (2002-07), Chair of the Board Committee on Scientific Affairs (2005-07), Chair of the Committee on Value-Based Anesthesia Care (1996-97) and has been a member of various other ASA committees.

From 1991-2004, Dr. Johnstone served in the U.S. Army Reserve, finishing as Colonel, and serving at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He has a history of active military service dating back to 1974.

He currently serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the West Virginia State Society of Anesthesiologists (2000-present) and was President of the Alabama State Society of Anesthesiologists in 1986-87.

Dr. Johnstone received his medical degree from the Ohio State University, served his internship (internal medicine) at the University of Cincinnati and his anesthesiology residency and fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed M.B.A. courses at Troy State University in Alabama.

Awards and Honors

• Distinguished Service Award
Carl C. Hug, Jr., M.D., Ph.D.

• Award for Excellence in Research
Debra A. Schwinn, M.D.

• Emery A. Rovenstine Memorial Lecture
James E. Cottrell, M.D.

• Lewis H. Wright Memorial Lecture
Rodney N. Westhorpe, M.B., B.S., F.R.C.A., F.A.N.Z.C.A.

• 7th FAER Honorary Research Lecture
Mervyn Maze, M.B., Ch.B.

• ASA Presidential Scholar Award
Marcos F. Vidal Melo, M.D.

Media Awards
The winners of the ASA Philip S. Weintraub Media Award were Sarah Unis of WFXT-TV in Boston and Rich Maloof for MSN “Health and Fitness.” Ms. Unis’ November 21, 2006 television segment titled “Who’s Putting You Under” featured an interview with Beverly K. Philip, M.D., and covered anesthesia safety during office-based surgery. Mr. Maloof informed readers about rare anesthesia risks in a written piece called “Anesthesia Awareness” for his “Reality Check” column featured on MSN “Health and Fitness.” Then-ASA President Mark J. Lema, M.D., Ph.D., was featured in the column.