President’s Message: Honoring Our Tradition While Embracing Change

As has been evident in both word and deed, the AUA has evolved from a purely honorific society to one that is increasingly active in contributing to academic anesthesiology. In other words, we no longer just recognize excellence, we also promote it. Our recent initiatives such as the academic speaker exchange, mentorship program, or survey and national webinar on sexual harassment are just a few examples of an increasing presence in the field. However, that increasing presence has required an expanded infrastructure that has grown beyond the current resources of our partnership with the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS). After collaborative discussion and reflection, it has become clear that our two organizations must shift to independent entities, while being steadfastly committed and unified in our goal to advance academic anesthesiology. The coming year will thus be a time of transition, including a departure from the combined annual meeting as well as the establishment of a new management structure. To be effective in this new direction, we will need our members’ insight, input, and support (and perhaps a bit of patience) more than ever. There will be challenges ahead but also an exciting opportunity to return to our roots as an independent organization with a university-based meeting, while still embracing the positive strategic change with which we are currently engaged. I look forward to working with our AUA leadership team, AUA members, and IARS colleagues to ensure a smooth and thoughtful journey as we both honor our AUA roots while shaping a new future for an organization and field that means so much to so many.