Section Updates

CCAS 2020 Highlights

By Viviane G. Nasr, MD
Chair of the CCAS Communication Committee
Editor of the CCAS Newsletter

Dr. Nasr

Early in 2020, we at the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society (CCAS) were delighted to start off the year with our first internationally located Annual Meeting. However, life did not continue as expected and this was our last in-person meeting. Since then, our Society has adapted to the new “normal” and continued its efforts to ensure that our mission continues to be fulfilled.

From an organizational perspective, we now have seven formal committees at CCAS. Three committees were recently created: the Research Committee led by Dr. David Faraoni recently announced the call for the first Dolly D. Hansen Research Award which will be announced at the CCAS 2021 Annual Meeting. (https://www.ccasociety.org/ccas-research-award/). The Membership Recruitment, Engagement and Retention Committee, led by Dr. Luis Zabala, initiated the International Sponsorship program (https://www.ccasociety.org/sponsor-a-member/) and witnessed a growth in membership reaching more than 1200 members. The Safety and Quality Committee is the most recently created committee being chaired by Dr. Morgan Brown. The Education, Communication, Database, and Nominations Committees also continue to be very productive.

The Communication Committee has been actively engaged in continuing the weekly questions and polls of the month. In addition, a revamped and new website was launched in summer 2020. The site provides an improved user experience to find, access and share information. The website highlights the content and resources provided by CCAS as well as the members’ achievements and special events. We have also reached a milestone in our social media with 700 followers this year on the CCAS twitter account. A big Thank You to Dr. Rajeev Wadia, our social media ambassador.

During COVID, the Society organized the first virtual webinar “COVID 19 and Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia Programs” followed by a publication in Anesthesia and Analgesia “Considerations for Pediatric Heart Programs During COVID-19: Recommendations from the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society” (https://www.ccasociety.org/covid-19-webinar/).  In addition, the Society has organized and participated in webinars sponsored by the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (PCICS) and Congenital Heart Academy (CHA) with more than 600 attendees.

Most recently, the Education and Communication Committees have worked together and launched a series of regular webinars starting on October 17 with the topic of  “Priorities in Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia Research.” The webinar was well attended and promoted further discussions and potential collaborations in the future. The next webinar is planned for January 2021 with more information to follow.

The Program Organization Committee for our upcoming Annual CCAS Meeting led by Dr. Susan Nicholson has been actively working on preparing a great program. The final decision along with SPA and SPPM leadership has been to pursue a virtual meeting. The CCAS Annual Meeting will be held on March 20-21. We are looking forward to “seeing” many of you at our meeting.

From a training and mentoring perspective, the Trainee CCAS Group is currently recognized as a Special Interest Group (SIG) and Co-Chaired by Drs. Rica Buchanan and Asif Adityah and overseen by myself. The SIG has been instrumental in updating the trainee section on our website. In addition, they have been working closely with Drs. Megan Albertz, Nicholas Houska and Greg Latham in organizing the Trainee Webinar Series with once a month lecture or discussion offered to the advanced pediatric cardiac anesthesia fellows.

A Cardiac Anesthesia Mentoring Initiative was initiated by Dr. Laura Berenstain this year. Recognizing the challenges inherent in practicing pediatric cardiac anesthesiology, and aiming to attract and retain talented physicians into this subspecialty, this initiative is dedicated to providing junior faculty and trainees in pediatric cardiac anesthesiology with the necessary skills, knowledge, and confidence to achieve success in their career. Dr. Berenstain has been working with Dr. Nina Guzzetta, Dr. Nina Deutsch and myself in matching all pediatric cardiac anesthesia fellows and first year junior faculty in pediatric cardiac anesthesia with a senior member of our community.

Despite the challenges at all levels in the US and worldwide, and the social distancing in the past year, the Society with dedicated membership and leadership has been able to continue to grow and thrive. In 2021 and beyond, we aim to continue promoting and providing high-quality content, resources and opportunities to our current and future members.

Stay safe and stay well.