Future Meetings

AUA is currently revisiting the Annual Meeting locations and will update this page once we have the details.

Joint Statement from the Association of University Anesthesiologists (AUA), the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (SOCCA), and the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS)

One of the goals of the IARS is to support the international anesthesia research community by fostering research and education through partnerships and collaboration. The IARS has worked closely with the Association of University Anesthesiologists (AUA) and the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (SOCCA) to develop a joint annual meeting and to provide administrative support. However, due to the growing needs of the three organizations and the complexity of the annual meeting, several changes are needed. In particular, the structure of the combined AUA, SOCCA and IARS meeting, in its current form–with three independent registrations and fees, independent abstract submission processes, and overlapping education content–has been a source of concern for members of the organizations. Thus, the three organizations will undertake the following changes while remaining fully aligned in their staunch commitment to advance academic anesthesiology.

Moving forward, the AUA and IARS have mutually decided to transition to independent administrative management and, starting in 2024, independent annual meetings. The rationale for this change is that the AUA has evolved from historically being a purely honorific society to a more active and functional one. Many new AUA programs have been developed, leading to organizational needs that exceed the administrative capacity of the IARS. Furthermore, many AUA members have expressed the desire to return to the traditional format of university-based meetings. After thoughtful and amicable discussions, the AUA and IARS have therefore decided to separate their administrative and meeting structures.

SOCCA will continue to collaborate with the IARS, Early-Stage Anesthesiology Scholars (eSAS) and others on the Annual Meeting Oversight Committee to plan the 2024 annual meeting, which will be held in Seattle on May 17-19, 2024. SOCCA members will continue to find extensive meeting content devoted to critical care and pain management. A restructuring of administrative support for SOCCA to handle their substantial growth in membership and programs is currently under consideration.

Overall, the AUA, SOCCA and IARS view these changes in positive terms and collectively maintain an unwavering commitment to promote academic anesthesiology and related subspecialties. We anticipate ongoing collaboration as independent yet mutually supportive organizations.