PAPDA Update

Update from the Pediatric Anesthesiology Program Directors’ Association - Summer 2020

By Concetta Lupa, MD; Lindsey Loveland-Baptist, MD; Doyle Lim, MD; Jennifer Lau, MD; Bill Waldrop, MD; Franklyn Cladis, MD; and Justin L. Lockman, MD, MSEd, FAAP

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”

— English philosopher Alan Watts

Nothing could be truer regarding our options for facing the adversities of 2020. In the span of a few months, the Pediatric Anesthesiology Program Directors’ Association (PAPDA) was met with the exciting news of becoming an official Section of SPA, and then immediately faced the challenges of a pandemic as we began our interview season for the 2021-2022 fellowship year, and now we are struggling with how best to address issues of diversity and inclusion in our recruitment and selection processes.

During this time, we grappled with how to reshape current curricula amidst a great threat and ensure that our trainees received the whole experience of pediatric anesthesiology fellowship.  The current pandemic has brought upon us the need to be creative and to reinvent the interview process for our applicants who will match this fall.  We wait with bated breath to see how this pans out; as you may recall, our match has been fraught with the challenge of a mismatch of programs to applicants, resulting in 54% of programs not completely filling in fall of 2019. Now, in the midst of virtual interviews and a dramatically changed financial climate, nobody is certain what to expect.

Some members of the PAPDA Board of Directors, along with the SPA Trainee Special Interest Group, are actively working to create a survey to send to applicants in order to identify most accepted and beneficial practices as we continue to navigate the windy path ahead.  We are uncertain about many things, including how long we will need to utilize a digital platform for interviews.  The match will commence on October 14, and we look forward to sharing both match results and COVID-19 survey results with the SPA Membership.

As virtual technology has been thrust upon us, we are looking for ways to collaborate using these platforms which many of us seem to have only recently discovered.  For example, the PAPDA is working on constructing a journal club series, one for program directors and one for trainees, to help unify us as a specialty and network even when we are distant.  We are excited about the opportunities for connection and will continue to develop ideas for a national curriculum of learning that will cover diversity and inclusion, conflict resolution, and hot topics in pediatric anesthesia.

Speaking of change, PAPDA recently held elections (see below) and we are proud that our Board of Directors represents institutions and fellowship programs of various sizes and geographic regions around the nation.  Please reach out to any board member with suggestions for how we can enhance education in our specialty.

PAPDA Board of Directors

  • President: Justin L. Lockman, MD, MSEd, FAAP, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
  • Immediate Past President: Franklyn Cladis, MD, Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital
  • President-Elect: Concetta Lupa, MD, University of North Carolina Children’s Hospital
  • Secretary/Treasurer: Doyle Lim, MD, Nemours / A.I. DuPont Children’s Hospital
  • At-Large Board Members: Lindsey Loveland-Baptist, MD, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin; Jennifer Lau, MD, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; and Bill Waldrop, MD, Texas Children’s Hospital.

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