president's message

Exciting Times for CCAS

Dr. GuzzettaBy Nina A. Guzzetta, MD
Emory University

It’s hard to believe 2017 has already come to an end!  Throughout the year, you, our membership, have been hard at work.  CCAS was involved in an unprecedented number of activities, both organizational and educational, aimed at advancing our mission.  Below, I’ll take a moment to share just a few.

This past summer in Barcelona, CCAS participated in the 7th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (WCPCCS).  I wish everyone could have been there.  Not only were the city and weather fantastic, but the CCAS was well represented.  Despite the anesthesia track being new to the Program, our lectures were packed with attendees every day.  Really, I mean standing room only!  All the anesthesia presentations were exceptional.  Also, CCAS hosted a special lunch symposium outlining our mission and membership benefits.  There was a lot of international interest in our Society, and we are currently working with the SPA Membership and Finance Committee to form a tiered international membership structure in order to improve our global outreach.  I would like to extend a special thank you to Drs. Mark Twite and Scott Walker who lobbied for and organized our presence at the 2017 WCPCCS. 

Drs. Viviane Nasr and James DiNardo, along with several other CCAS Board members, have also been hard at work establishing and standardizing competency-based milestones for training in pediatric cardiac anesthesia.  Programs can now utilize these milestones to design a structured, well-defined curriculum for trainees pursuing a second year fellowship in pediatric cardiac anesthesia.  Please join me in thanking them for their efforts in this important initiative and in congratulating them for the resultant article that will soon be published in Anesthesia and Analgesia, "Consensus Statement by the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society: Milestones for the Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia Fellowship".

I would be remiss not to acknowledge those who were gravely affected by the 2017 hurricane season.  Many of our colleagues continue to face difficult challenges and witness profound suffering as they provide anesthesia care and comfort to children in distraught areas.  The SPA Hurricane Relief Fund raised more than $21,000 to provide much needed relief, in the form of medical care and equipment, following the devastation associated with hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

As the new year begins, we are looking forward to the next CCAS Annual Meeting to be held on March 22, in conjunction with the SPA-AAP Pediatric Anesthesiology 2018 Meeting, in Phoenix, Arizona.  Dr. Luis Zabala (Program Chair) along with Drs. Kirsten Odegard and James Spaeth (Program Co-Chairs) have worked diligently to plan an outstanding program.  Many of the popular sessions will remain the same, such as the clinical practice update, and a focus on lesion and oral abstract presentations.  However, the Program Chairs have also made some new and exciting additions including morning roundtable discussions with experts on a particular topic as well as the inaugural Dolly D. Hansen Lecture (entitled “Impact of Anesthesia on Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Children with Congenital Heart Disease”) to be delivered by Dr. Dean Andropoulos.  More details outlining the Program can be found in this Newsletter.  Also, I want to remind everyone that the CCAS Board of Directors meeting will be held on Friday, March 23, and that all members are welcome to attend.

2017 was a truly remarkable year for CCAS!  By working together, we made important strides in our global outreach, organizational initiatives and educational collaborations with like-minded societies.  We want to continue to meet the needs and expectations of our membership, so please reach out to myself or any Board member with your thoughts and ideas.  I look forward to seeing everyone in Phoenix.

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