President's Message
I am very excited about the direction of the Association of University Anesthesiologists (AUA) and for the opportunity to serve as your President! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this. Even so, I know that no one gets here alone. So first I would like to send heartfelt thanks for our members, our previous presidents, Drs. Kronish, Avidan, Kirsch and Mashour, as well as our previous Executive Director, Ms. Vivian Abalama, for their unwavering support, thoughts and actions that provided the energy and focus for clearing the path forward for “Shaping the future for Academic Anesthesiology”. This is an important task. Our universities house our most precious persons, our resident and fellow learners that become our academic faculty! Hence, with this trust we must partner with our anesthesiology and multidisciplinary university faculty, staff and academic leadership in order to provide a strong future for all of these wonderful persons by being true to our mission: To promote excellence in academic anesthesiology through mentorship; promotion of diversity and inclusivity; and professional growth throughout the careers of educators, academic leaders, and researchers. While our mission has many key words, it is my opinion that the most significant of these words is to provide this mission “throughout the careers of educators, academic leaders and researchers.” It is this promise that requires sustainable change and targeted implementation. You may have noticed a few things. First, this year we returned to our home, the university. This pivot was made possible by the combined support of our members, executive council, our Boards and my department, medical school and university at Washington University in St. Louis. Secondly, within these meeting days from Friday to Sunday (March 22-24, 2024), we provided an academic program. We included the current standards pre-meeting workshops and critical content from our advisory boards, as well as an intriguing and thought provoking host, president and women in Academic Anesthesiology Networking program. Since our annual meeting we have been busy with our transitions. ARC, a familiar name in academic Anesthesiology, is our new management company. So, behind the scenes, I have been busy working with Andrew Bronson, our new Executive Director, with on-boarding our newly minted advisory board leaders and members, as well as providing critical support for those continuing in their roles and maintaining our programs. In addition to this work I have disseminated our mission, vision and purpose along with American Society of Anesthesiology and American Medical Association leadership at the Anesthesiology section of the National Medical Association. These critical partnerships provide strength in numbers as we move forward in shaping the future of Academic Anesthesiology. It is my opinion that our anesthesiology societies should find ways to come together on shared values regarding our academic missions. In 2025, our annual meeting will be in Boston, MA and just happens to coincide with International Women’s Day! Make your plans to come together and share your voice as we continue to shape the future of Academic Anesthesiology! Working together we can get this done! Dolores B. Njoku, MD |
Dear Colleagues,