SPA has a full calendar
I always find October a very exciting and exhausting month because of our annual SPA and ASA meeting. This year it was in Chicago and we enjoyed the largest annual meeting in our history while celebrating the 25th anniversary of the society.
I found the program very stimulating and enjoyed the looks at our past, present and future. I believe everyone who participated in our round table PBLDs at lunch found this to be a significant improvement in the program. The day concluded with an opportunity to renew and create new friendships at the evening reception at the Chicago Yacht Club. I want to publicly congratulate and thank Wendy Binstock and the entire Education Committee for putting together such a wonderful program.
As part of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia’s ongoing celebration of its 25th anniversary, the SPA Board of Directors is asking all of our members to consider making a pledge of support for the Patient Safety, Education & Research Fund. We have pledges from 100% of current officers, board members and past presidents, as well as the majority of our former board members.
These initial pledges total more than $150,000. Our goal is to raise an additional $500,000 in pledges to support advancing pediatric anesthesia safety efforts. This would allow up to $25,000 from interest each year to be used to support starter grants to investigate pediatric anesthesia safety questions. Please contact Kim Battle, SPA Association Manager, at kim@societyhq.com or fax to 804-282-0090 if you have questions or wish to make a donation.
Julie Niezgoda (Program Director) has also been working with Kurt Lalwani (workshop, refresher lectures), Genie Heitmiller (PBLDs), Nancy Glass (Committee Chair) and the remainder of the Education Committee putting the finishing touches for our SPA/AAP Pediatric Anesthesiology 2012 Winter Meeting, which will be held February 23-26, 2012 at the Marriott Tampa Waterside Hotel and Marina in Tampa, Florida.
There will be general sessions on disasters and trama management, “News You Can Use”, coagulopathies, presentation of the Robert M. Smith Award to Nick Goudsouzian, MD, walk-around posters, 48 PBLDs, 20 workshops and 4 refresher courses.
The Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society (CCAS) will be holding their annual meeting the previous day (Thursday February 23, 2012) at the same location. Jim DiNardo (President), Jumbo Williams, and Wanda Miller-Hance have create an excellent one-day program looking at oxygen as a friend or foe, non-cardiac surgery for patients with congenital cardiac disease and pro-con debates on Factor VIIA use. Early registration ends January 24, 2012. Convenient on-line registration is available at www.pedsanesthesia.org.
The Society for Pediatric Anesthesia is delighted to be hosting the International Assembly for Pediatric Anesthesia (IAPA) Meeting in honor of our 25 years of service to children. The theme for the meeting is “Safety Knows No Borders”. It will be held on Thursday and Friday October 11-12, 2012 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington D.C. The IAPA Meeting goal is to foster the development of the specialty of pediatric anesthesia around the world. Organizations supporting this gathering include:
- Asian Society of Paediatric Anaesthesiologists (ASPA)
- Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (APA)
- Canadian Pediatric Anesthesia Society (CPAS)
- Chinese Society of Anesthesiology (CSA)
- Confederation of Latin American Societies of Anaesthesologists (CLASA)
- European Society for Paediatric Anaesthesiology (ESPA)
- Indian Association of Paediatric Anaesthesiologists (IAPA)
- Israel Society of Anesthesiologists (ISA)
- Japanese Society of Pediatric Anesthesiology (JSPA)
- Society for Paediatric Anaesthesia in New Zealand and Australia (SPANZA)
- World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA)
A program committee representing 13 countries under the guidance of Randy Flick has put together the program which will include keynote speakers that are recognized leaders in patient safety (Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD), lectures for leaders around the world, break out sessions, interactive clinical sessions and workshops, and PBLDs.
We also will be accepting abstracts for presentation. The application process will open on-line on February 1, 2012 and close May 1, 2012. This will be a once in a lifetime experience, so make your plans now to attend. For additional information, visit the meeting website at www.internationalassembly2012.org.
An organizing committee chaired by Jay Deshpande with representatives from 21 different countries and every continent have started planning for this unique 2-day event. Besides the two-day scientific program, there will be an evening reception with exhibitors on Thursday, October 11th and a closing reception at the National Zoo on Friday, October 12th. Attendees booking rooms at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel will receive a free complimentary Metro Card to facilitate transportation throughout the Washington D.C. area for the duration of your stay via the Metro (subway).
This committee has also developed a program to facilitate attendance by international providers called the International Scholars Program. To be eligible, a scholar must be (1) from a developing country, (2) in the first 10 years of completion of training, (3) engaged in teaching and training of anesthesia providers and (4) will submit and present an abstract at the meeting.
Successful applicants will receive fiscal support ($2,500 U.S.) to offset a portion of their travel-related expenses for this trip, free complimentary registration at the IAPA and American Society of Anesthesiologists meetings, and an invitation to the IAPA Faculty VIP Dinner on Thursday October 11th. We anticipate that each of the participating organizations along with many individual children’s hospitals around the world will contribute funds to this program to support up to 50 scholars. On-line applications for this program can be found here.
SPA is continually working on our mission to advance the safety and quality of anesthesia care, perioperative management and alleviation pain in children, now on a global scale. I will close again by encouraging anyone with interest to volunteer to join in these worthy efforts. You can send in suggestions or volunteer for a committee or special interest group by writing to spa@societyhq.com.
I hope to see you all again in Tampa as we continue to celebrate our first 25 years!
