Episode 193: Mentorship and Trainees

Christine Vo, MD, FASA

Christine Vo, MD, FASA, is a board-certified anesthesiologist, educator, and national leader in medical education. She serves as an associate professor of anesthesiology at University of Oklahoma Health and is passionate about mentorship, leadership development, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), and advancing undergraduate and graduate medical education. Throughout her career, Dr. Vo has been dedicated to helping medical students and residents achieve their professional goals while fostering inclusive learning environments that promote excellence and belonging.

Dr. Vo earned her medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and has held numerous educational leadership roles, including assistant residency program director, medical student clerkship director, and chair of the Academy of Teaching Scholars. Nationally, she served on the American Society of Anesthesiologists Ad Hoc Committee on Mentorship, is chair of the Society for Education in Anesthesia Medical Student Education Committee, an ABA Board Examiner, and is a member of the ASA ACE Editorial Board. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, presented over 40 national workshops and abstracts, and has received numerous local and national awards recognizing her excellence in teaching, mentorship, and educational innovation.

Eugenia Ayrian, MD

Eugenia Ayrian, MD, is a clinical professor of anesthesiology and a vice chair of education at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She earned her medical degree at the Medical Institute in Yerevan, Armenia, and completed her anesthesiology residency training at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Dr. Ayrian’s clinical interests are in neurosurgical anesthesia. She has contributed multiple articles to peer reviewed literature, authored book chapters, and presented multiple invited scientific lectures at national and international conferences. Dr. Ayrian is committed to the process of education, she was awarded the Certificate of Recognition for Dedicated Service to the Committee on Admissions and received the Award in Recognition of Outstanding Teaching of Medical Students at USC.m

Dr. Ayrian is the chair of the Committee on Neuroanesthesiology at American Society of Anesthesiologists and is the secretary of the California Society of Anesthesiologists; she serves as a director-at-large of the Society of Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care (SNACC).

Brooke E. Trainer, MD, FASA

Brooke E. Trainer, MD, FASA, remains devoted to her fellow Veterans and maintains her full-time status as an anesthesiologist, acute pain physician, and critical care medicine Intensivist at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System in Richmond VA. She is also an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Virginia Commonwealth University where she works as a critical care intensivist in the liver transplant and surgical trauma burn ICU. Most recently, Dr. Trainer was recognized for her contributions and interest in simulation education and was granted a national faculty position with the VHA Simulation Learning Education and Research Network (SimLEARN) Division.

Dr. Trainer received her doctor of medicine from the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, completed her anesthesia residency at Yale New Haven Medical Center in Connecticut, and fellowship in critical care medicine at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. She is a US Air Force veteran, having served as an anesthesiologist at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and director for the Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATT). She deployed in 2012, '13, and '14 to Afghanistan from Germany, flying wounded soldiers safely out of Afghanistan back to Germany, then home to the US. In 2012, she was recognized as the top-level physician of the European Medical Command and was awarded the US Air Force European Clinical Excellence Award. Dr. Trainer also holds several leadership positions in organized medicine, including her current role as the president for the Association of VA Anesthesiologists, and has published numerous book chapters in internationally recognized Anesthesia Textbooks.