2022 SEA Spring Meeting Highlight

2022 SEA Spring Meeting Highlight

After two years of COVID-hiatus, we were finally able to meet like-minded colleagues at the SEA Spring Meeting. The 2022 Spring meeting was successfully held between April 8-10, 2022, in Pittsburgh, attracting 180+ registrants. The meeting Co-Chairs were Dr. Viji Kurup (Yale), Dr. Susan Martinelli (UNC), and Dr. Phillip Adams (UPMC). Dr. Adams also served as the chair of the extremely well-organized social program. 

True to the meeting theme "Innovation - A Renaissance of Training, Practice, and Mindset in Anesthesiology,” all attendees enjoyed the carefully constructed speakers line up. 

As the keynote speaker, Dr. Aman Mahajan (Chair, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, UPMC) addressed the lecture entitled, “Future of Anesthesia Practice and its Implication in Anesthesia Education.” He provided an extensive and comprehensive overview of the multiple elements of current anesthesia practice and detailed the impact of recent innovations that occurred recently, projecting the future anesthesiologist’s role as the perioperative specialist.

At the President Address, Dr. Stephanie Jones shared her personal journey from an anesthesia faculty to the SEA President and Department Chair, stressing the importance of mentorship and sponsorship to grow as a leader. 

The four panel discussions attracted all attendees. At the Panel-1 (Artificial Intelligence and Anesthesia Education), Dr. Daniel Jones (Vice Chair of Surgery, Co-Director, Carl J. Shapiro Simulation and Skills center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) and Dr. Daniel Hashimoto (Co-founder and immediate past associate director, senior consultant of the Massachusetts General Hospital surgical artificial intelligence and innovation laboratory) demonstrated the actual usage of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in the simulation training and surgical practice to improve patients’ safety. At the Panel-2 (Renaissance of Educational: Learning from the Past), Dr. Melissa Coleman (Board of Trustees, Wood Library Museum of Anesthesiology) immersed us in the history of anesthesia education, which was a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon whose shoulders we, as the anesthesia educators, stand on. At the Panel-3 (Introducing “Innovation” Curriculum in Your Residency), past and current UPMC anesthesiology residency alumni, Drs. Philip Carullo, Sergio Hickey, and Zach Frabitore detailed the resident-led innovation curriculum programs. At the Panel-4 (How Patients Might Transform Anesthesia Education), Dr. Lawrence Chu (Director of the Stanford Anesthesia Informatics and Media Lab) and Dr. Amy Price (Senior Research Scientist Anesthesia Informatics and Media Lab Co-Instructor Partnering with Patients EdX Online Series) shared the impact of patient perspective on our anesthesiology practice and emphasized on the needs to tailor the anesthesia education to meet the patient expectations. 

High-quality abstract presentations were widely visited, showing the extent of educational research projects and innovative curriculums. Among these fantastic abstracts, Philip Liu Innovations in Anesthesia Education Awards were given to Dr. Zach Frabitore (CA3 resident of UPMC) in the Innovative Curriculum category for his presentation entitled, “The Pittsburgh Innovation and Technology Track (PITTrack): An integrated innovation curriculum addressing barriers to physician-led innovation”, and to Dr. Deborah Schwengel (Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University) in the research category for her presentation entitled, “Using electroencephalography to explore neurocognitive correlates of procedural proficiency: A pilot study to compare experts and novices during simulated endotracheal intubation.”

A competitive annual SEAd Grant Award was given to Dr. Haobo Ma (Instructor in Anaesthesia, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) for his project entitled, “Development of a Cost-Effective 3D Modular Airway for Schema-Based Fiberoptic Intubation Training.”

The annual Chief Leadership Course attracted many in-coming chief residents on the second day. Dr. Stacy Fairbanks (University of Colorado) and Dr. Bridget Marroquin (University of Vermont) organized the program. 

The highlight of the final day was the JEPM (Journal of Education in Perioperative Medicine) “Best of the Year.” This year saw special presentations and the group workshop led by Dr. Timothy Long (Mayo Clinic), Dr. Dawn Dillman (Oregon Health & Science University), Dr. Amy Miller Juve (Oregon Health & Science University), Dr. Emily Peoples (University of Michigan), and Dr. Lara Zisblatt (University of Michigan).

Of course, all attendees enjoyed the morning committees round table discussions and a wide variety of excellent workshops throughout the three-day SEA meeting. 

We all celebrated the wonderful opportunity to meet in person, discuss issues, share each other's insight, and stimulate each other to become a much-motivated professional. 

SEA Spring meeting – the must-attend meeting each year! 

Ted Sakai, MD, PhD, MHA, FASA
Chair, SEA Spring Meeting

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