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Drs. Laura Berenstain and Crystal Wright join Dr. Adam Striker to discuss ASA’s new Leadership Academy. Listen in as they consider what it means to be a leader, the skillsets of leaders and how they’re acquired, the role of mentorship, what to expect from the Society’s innovative approach to leadership education, and more. Recorded March 2022.
Laura Berenstain MD, FASA, ACC, was most recently a Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She is also a certified Professional Leadership coach who currently coaches individual physicians, as well as working with both private anesthesiology practices and academic departments of anesthesiology. Dr. Berenstain is an Advisory Board member and Coach for the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia’s Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative as well. She is passionate about the benefits of coaching for physicians in the areas of professional development, leadership, and well-being.
Dr. Berenstain received her undergraduate degree from Duke University and then attended Tulane Medicine School. After her anesthesiology residency she completed a fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology and critical care medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She has practiced pediatric cardiac anesthesia for the past 30 years and her textbook Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia: A Case-based Approach was published in Fall 2021. She is active in the ASA committees on Professional Development, Well-being, Mentoring, and Women in Anesthesiology.
Growing up watching her mother pivot from teaching to another service profession, as founder of a nonprofit providing accessible health care and screenings to the lower socioeconomic population, Crystal Clay Wright knew at 16 becoming a doctor would answer her call to serve humanity.
She completed her residency at Baylor College of Medicine and furthered her training at Texas Heart Institute in cardiothoracic anesthesiology. Crystal has been a practicing anesthesiologist for the past 13 years. Her first ten years were spent at Baylor College of Medicine, practicing both cardiothoracic and trauma anesthesiology, and serving as Director of the BCM Learning Community in the Undergraduate Medical Education Department. After leaving Baylor College of Medicine, she transitioned to MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2017.
In today’s changing climate, Dr. Wright’s steadfast philosophies help impact the next generation of medical professionals. Crystal Clay Wright, MD, FASA is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Nothing is more important to Dr. Wright than her advocacy efforts related to perioperative care of patients exemplified by her activity within organized medicine. She currently serves as a member of the ASA Board of Directors, Chair of the Committee on Professional Diversity, member of the ASA Committee on Governmental Affairs, and Texas Society of Anesthesiology Speaker of the House of Delegates.
Adam Striker, MD, FASA is currently Chair of the ASA Committee on Communications, and is the series editor for ASA’s Central Line podcast series. He is an Associate Professor and serves as staff anesthesiologist in the Division of Cardiac Anesthesia at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and in the Division of Pediatric Anesthesia at Kentucky Children’s Hospital as part of the Joint Congenital Heart Care Program. He received his undergraduate degree in engineering from Purdue University and his medical degree from Indiana University. He completed his pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at Northwestern University.
