President’s Message
I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving and have a happy and healthy holiday season (so far), avoiding COVID, RSV, adenovirus, and Influenza. Good Grief. The education committee has planned an extraordinary annual meeting which will take place in Denver, Colorado on April 14, 2023. On Saturday April 15th, there is an impressive lineup of educational events during the IARS, AUA, and SOCCA-aligned meeting day. Most importantly, I hope you plan to attend the SOCCA Women in Critical Care and SOCCA Early Career group meet-up and networking events between 7:00-9:00 PM on Thursday, April 13. There is also a reception on Friday, April 14, from 7:30-9:30 PM. It will be great to see everyone in person again. Continue Reading…
Committee on Education Update
As we approach the new year, we look forward to providing educational content to all of our SOCCA members and to the critical care community at large. The annual meeting subcommittee has been busy compiling a fantastic program with an outstanding group of speakers for what will hopefully be our first in person annual meeting in many years. We strive to ensure a meeting that will highlight the recent advances in critical care medicine and are also working with the research committee to bring the latest in cutting edge research to the meeting attendees. Continue Reading…
Introducing the SOCCA Service Chiefs’ Advisory Council
As a professional organization dedicated to the support and development of anesthesiologists who care for critically ill patients, SOCCA’s aims include fostering community and advocacy. SOCCA has therefore organized and promoted efforts to better understand the national anesthesiology critical care practice landscape. Two such efforts—respective surveys of the SOCCA and American Society of Anesthesiologists membership—have yielded valuable insights [1, 2]. However, our conceptualization of the national landscape remains incomplete. Continue Reading…
New Workgroup to be Established: Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) / Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) / Cardio Thoracic ICU (CTICU) Workgroup
Despite evolution in many areas of critical care medicine, refractory cardiopulmonary failure continues to have high morbidity and mortality. In patients with severe cardiopulmonary failure refractory to medical therapy, mechanical circulatory support (MCS) is more commonly being utilized for both short and long-term support. MCS for circulatory shock includes intraaortic balloon pump (IABP), minimally invasive percutaneous ventricular assist devices (pVADs, e.g., Impella), external and durable LVADs, and venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO); venovenous ECMO is utilized for isolated pulmonary failure. MCS can salvage patients with severe disease to allow time for recovery, facilitate corrective procedures, or bridge to transplantation. The evolution of these therapies underscores the constantly evolving nature of critical care medicine and the importance of innovation in improving patient outcomes. Continue Reading…
A Conversation with…Dr. Meghan Lane-Fall
This article brings to your attention Dr. Meghan Lane-Fall, an extraordinarily achieved female physician-scientist who continues to excel in many aspects of Anesthesiology and Critical Care. I invited Dr. Lane-Fall to be the center of this story because I am impressed and inspired by her remarkable achievements and her capacity to remain approachable. Continue Reading…
Research Spotlight
I am an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado, where I attend in the operating rooms and the Surgical Trauma ICU (STICU). Throughout my early career as a physician-scientist, I have been dedicated to studying critically ill patients, trauma, and multi-organ dysfunction. Continue Reading…
Women in Critical Care
We hope you are well and have seen the new uploads on our Women in Critical Care website (SOCCA) and our column in the SOCCA Interchange. We are adding more content and intend to bring new Webinars, Fireside Chats, and—hopefully—some more creative content designed for the busy woman in CCM. Continue Reading…
Women in Critical Care: Suggestions to Organizations/ Societies for Female Representation in Critical Care
Disclaimer: This is a work product of Women in Critical Care and does not represent the views of the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists
Background: Despite the increasing percentage of female intensivists and their multifaceted involvement in healthcare over the last decades, to date, their representation in physician workforce, academic positions and leadership roles in critical care remains disproportionately low. Continue Reading…
COVID-19: The Rise of the Machines
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a revolutionary inclusion to current medical practice, particularly in the field of Critical Care medicine. The actualization of AI is empowered with the intellectual acumen to analyze and generate vastly complex data, as well as integrate from experience, based on recognition of formed patterns. This is achieved through machine learning and perception, compounded by natural language processing, and automated simple repetitive tasks or exposure. These are attributes or skills born from the innovative integration of human intelligence and computer systems. Continue Reading…
Clinical Considerations for Airway Management in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is an inflammatory rheumatic disease that primarily affects the spine, although other joints and organs can become involved. AS and its parent disease, Axial Spondyloarthritis, are not rare, and affect at least 2 million and 5.9 million adults in the United States alone, respectively (1,2,3). Continue Reading…
Re-Thinking the Anesthesia Rotation
To augment recruitment to our specialty, we need to start at the grassroots. The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on a lack of critical care training among practicing anesthesiologists, as well as lack of appreciation for the specialty in the global medical community. A large contributing factor is the myopic perspective of our specialty offered on the standard boilerplate anesthesiology rotation. Continue Reading…
|
