Trainee and Early Career Engagement

Medical Student Engagement

Medical students are the future of the profession, and by creating opportunities for them to network with your state membership, you create stepping stones for them directly to the specialty. To engage with the medical student members in your state, we encourage creating a medical student council or component led by key medical student leaders. 

How do you create your group of medical student leaders? Actively reach out to the medical schools in your state and see if they have an Anesthesia Interest Group (AIG). Once confirmed, request the general group contact e-mail AND the e-mail of a key faculty contact who oversees the AIG. After this initial point of contact, keep an annual cadence of communication with your list of AIG contacts. 

Here is a list of activities you can consider for your medical student members: 

• Holding a networking session with the residency program directors in your state.
• Create non-CME sessions for medical students at your state component meeting that expand on special interest clinical topics. Utilize unique setups like simulations and workshops that smaller programs may not have access to provide.
• Hold advocacy sessions for trainees that give a better understanding of how and why advocacy is necessary for the specialty.
• Build sessions both virtually and in person on preparing to match into anesthesiology with a mix of panelists (attendings, residents, recently matched medical students, etc).

For more information on the ASA Medical Student Component, you can view their bylaws here. 

If you would like more discussion to spur different ways to pursue ideas for your medical students, please reach out to [email protected].

Resident Engagement

Residents have matched into the specialty and are in the thick of working towards becoming full fledged attendings. Their time is in constant demand, so when they choose to attend activities, it is our responsibility to be sure they are getting the maximum possible outcomes. As you plan events centric to residents, try to leverage weekends and keep the cost as minimal as possible.

To create a group of resident leaders, we recommend tapping your ASA Resident State Delegates. If you would like to have a better sense of your options for resident state delegate representatives, we recommend reaching out to the residency program directors in your state. Program directors work closely with their residents everyday and have a great sense of who will be a great representative for your state, and who can also keep you abreast of initiatives being pursued by the ASA Resident Component.

Some activities we encourage for your resident members include:

• Create advocacy events that give residents a better understanding of state and national level initiatives related to the specialty. Some topics for consideration are listed here. This activity would be a great precursor in deciding what representatives you would like to send to the ASA Legislative Conference. 
• Make sessions in your state meeting that focus on finance planning for residents and planning for moving into attending status. 
• Hold fellowship/subspecialty sessions that give insights to different career routes forward for residents after they complete residency.

For more information on the ASA Resident Component, you can view their bylaws here. 

If you would like more discussion to spur different ways to pursue ideas for your residents, please reach out to [email protected].

Early Career Member Engagement

As the ASA Early Career Membership Program evolves, keep in touch with developments here. 

We recommend pursuing the following actions and topics with your early career members:

• Create a focus group of fellows and early career members to get a good pulse on the unique challenges that may exist for early career physicians in your state.
• Develop sessions at your state society meeting focused on finance planning for those early in their practice. There should be a focus on life and resource planning (including both partnered and non-partnered situations).