Giving Thanks and Looking Forward
I am writing this message on Thanksgiving Day, so it seems only appropriate to give thanks to the Past President, James DiNardo, MD, and to our outgoing Board members Philip D. Arnold, MD, Victor C. Baum, MD, Robert H. Friesen, MD and Ian James, MB ChB, FRCA. Everyone’s hard work, knowledge and wisdom were and are much appreciated.
I would like to send best wishes for Thanksgiving to all our American colleagues, and all relevant Holiday and New Year Greetings to everyone worldwide. We should also give fervent thanks for the current cessation of hostilities between Palestine and Israel, and hope (against reality perhaps, but that is what hope is for!), that much of the conflict in the world will subside. Too often the suffering is disproportionately visited upon children.
The recent International Assembly for Pediatric Anesthesia meeting prior to the ASA Annual Meeting provided an opportunity for many of us to catch up with friends and colleagues from around the world, and benefit from an excellent program put together by Randall P. Flick, MD, MPH and colleagues. The SPA and all the sponsors of the meeting deserve our thanks.
Next year will provide opportunities for CCAS members to meet in the U.S. in March at the Red Rock Resort (CCAS Members click here to register), but do not spend all your money at the poker table, as there will also be a cardiac meeting prior to the joint ESPA/SPA meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in September 2013. The cardiac meeting will be prior to the main meeting (as in March), and is being organised by the Congenital Cardiac Anaesthesia Network who have graciously invited CCAS to participate.
It is my personal goal as President of CCAS to do whatever I can to improve our profile as an international organisation, and to encourage interaction and collaboration with our colleagues caring for children and adults with CHD worldwide. I hope I can be successful on your behalf, as it can only enrich us all.
I would also like to send particular season’s greetings to all Program Directors, and cardiac anesthesia chiefs to remind them that CCAS/SPA membership (2013 and onwards!) for faculty and trainees is a useful bonus, encouragement, a reward beyond measure, and a way to improve patient care by improving the quality of our service.
I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the New Year.
