President’s Message

Dear Colleague,
Welcome to ANESTHESIOLOGY 2010, the world’s most comprehensive anesthesiology educational program. This year’s meeting takes place in San Diego, a city with a beautiful climate year-round, an exquisite seashore as well as first-rate conference facilities, recreation, dining and lodging. Beyond the city’s attractions, there are three specific reasons ANESTHESIOLOGY 2010 is a must-attend event for anesthesia professionals.

Learn the Latest and Greatest ANESTHESIOLOGY 2010 showcases anesthesiology’s most accomplished and talented experts. The meeting offers something for everyone in all areas of the specialty. The educational program is organized by learning tracks to minimize schedule conflicts among sessions on related topics. The learning tracks offer a variety of formats, including refresher courses, clinical forums, Problem-Based Learning Discussions, workshops, panels and others. More than 1,500 abstract presentations are scheduled, most offering you face-to-face interaction with the investigators. Guaranteed, you will take home new ideas and techniques to improve the care you deliver to your patients.

Get Inspired
The opening plenary session will include a presentation by Jeff Skiles, co-pilot of the “Miracle on the Hudson” flight, who will highlight crisis management and teamwork in high-stakes situations – skills critical in the cockpit and in the practice of anesthesiology. On Saturday evening, ASA will host an opening reception for all registrants at the San Diego Padres’ PETCO Park – meet your friends for a drink at third base.

Help Shape Health Care Policy
At a time of unprecedented change in health care, make your voice heard and help shape ASA policy and priorities. Attend the open meetings of our House of Delegates and Reference Committees, at which the Society conducts its policy-related business. I look forward to welcoming you to San Diego.

Alexander A. Hannenberg, M.D.
President

Video Message from Dr. Hannenberg

Annual Meeting Chair’s Welcome

On behalf of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, welcome to ANESTHESIOLOGY 2010, the Annual Meeting of ASA. This year, we have made numerous changes to the format of the meeting that we anticipate will only add to the exceptional educational and networking value of the world's premiere meeting of anesthesiologists.

Of course, no Annual Meeting would be complete without the Rovenstine Lecture, which will take place on Monday, October 18. This year’s speaker is Kevin Tremper, Ph.D., M.D., from the University of Michigan, who will talk on “Anesthesiology: From Patient Safety to Population Outcomes." As has been our custom, the Celebration of Research (complete with frankfurters) will follow immediately. Tuesday will feature the John Severinghaus Lecture on Translational Science; our speaker will be Warren Zapol, M.D. Dr. Zapol is world-renowned for his Antarctic research expeditions, and he will lecture on “Life at the Frontier."

On Monday, October 18, we will be holding a series of educational sessions celebrating the culmination of Advances in Pain Treatment. Julia Pollock, M.D. will lead off with a breakfast panel on The Future of Pain Medicine. Other morning sessions include a point-counterpoint, Medial Branch Blocks as a Diagnostic Test for Thermal RF, by Steven Cohen, M.D., followed by Marc Huntoon, M.D. with refresher course lectures on Ultrasonography in Pain Medicine, and Dr. Timothy Deer’s Spinal Cord, Peripheral Nerve, and Peripheral Nerve Field Stimulation for the Treatment of Pain. The afternoon brings us a luncheon panel on Interventional Pain Management: Techniques Taught by the Experts, led by Nagy Mekhail, M.D. and refresher course lectures on When Acute Pain Becomes Chronic: Mechanisms, Prevention and Treatment, moderated by Sean Mackey, M.D., and An Algorithmic Approach to Neuropathic Pain moderated by Richard Rauck, M.D.

Thanks to outstanding work on the part of our tireless ASA headquarters staff, portions of this year’s program have been tailored to meet the documented educational needs of our members. Attendee surveys, newly published practice parameters and, yes, even results of certification examinations (remember those “key words”) were all taken into account in selecting topics for our sessions. In addition, since we were able to receive timely feedback on session quality, our best speakers have been invited to provide encore performances. We will be rolling out new educational modalities as well – some of our pro/con and clinical forum sessions will include an audience response system, enabling you to compare your understanding and clinical judgment with that of your colleagues.

Over the last several years, the educational meeting has grown substantially in size; as a result, more than a few sessions were sparsely attended. This year, each learning track was asked to “slim down” its offerings so that more energy can be focused on key topics. It is anticipated that these topics will change from year to year so that over the course of a few years, all aspects will be covered in depth.

By reducing the overall number of sessions, we have been able to address another concern – the meeting being too “spread out.” This year, all of the educational sessions, including the ever-popular Problem-Based Learning Discussions, will take place right in the convention center. House of Delegates activities will also take place in the convention center, increasing the availability of the scientific sessions to those participating in House activities.

Whether you’re coming for the educational opportunities, the political activities, to renew old acquaintances or to make new ones, ANESTHESIOLOGY 2010 in San Diego is guaranteed to be the best anesthesiology-related scientific meeting ever. Why not make plans now to be a part of it?

Jeffrey B. Gross, M.D.
Chair, Section on Annual Meeting