President's Messageby Avery Tung, MD, FCCM Volume 28 | Issue 1 | Winter 2017 “Ask not what your country can do…” So concludes a justifiably famous oration entreating citizens to contribute to the greater good. Fortunately, that’s one thing that doesn’t need to be said at SOCCA. In the 6 months that I have been President, the one thing I hear over and over again is “How can I contribute?” or “What does SOCCA need?”. It is both gratifying and exciting to feel the energy behind our growing and energetic group of critical care anesthesiologists. I am reminded time and time again of what an honor it is to serve this society. But it IS reasonable to ask what SOCCA can do for you! After all, tribal loyalties aside, that $160 membership could instead be a reasonable weekend dinner for two. I’ve touched on some of the reasons in the Fall issue of the Interchange. SOCCA is the only society focused on the critical care anesthesiologist, and offers a chance to interact with clinicians and researchers who share the common language of the anesthesiologist. The diversity of our practice environments is unmatched, and within SOCCA’s ranks you will find Trauma, SICU, Burn, Neuro, and Cardiothoracic expertise at the highest level. Have a question about a difficult management dilemma? It’s likely that another SOCCA member somewhere has come up against that same problem. But in this column I’d like to highlight some of the other, more tangible things that SOCCA might do for you. Interested in writing for our (quarterly) Interchange Newsletter? Our Interchange Editor in Chief Dr. Jordan Brand has created an email address where you can propose ideas for articles ([email protected]) and if the article fits the issue theme we are committed to helping you get it published. To those who ask: “But what’s the point?”, I’d note that many publications in my section of Anesthesia & Analgesia originated as ideas from SOCCA members floated in similar contexts…see PMID 28098587 and 27870745 for examples. Who knows? Your next publication could start as a piece for the Interchange! I’d also like to highlight our new SOCCA jobs website. In working with our fellowship program directors, our Fellowship committee Chair Dr. Miko Enomoto noted that our graduating fellows often relied on word of mouth to generate job leads, and that no efficient market for such jobs existed. To address that challenge, we’ve put together a site that you can access if you are looking for a job, or if you want to post a job opening. Please visit, take a look (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1anYzvf-I0rRjE0ZXdJZkNNYXc?usp=sharing), and let Dr. Enomoto or me know your thoughts! We’ve also created a unique email address for match-related questions ([email protected]) so if you have questions about Match rules you now have a way to ask them. Many have inquired about SOCCA-sponsored speaking opportunities. While we can’t accommodate all of the interest in speaking at the one-day SOCCA meeting itself (Dr. Adam Evans is meeting Chair), I’d note that SOCCA also has considerable input into the ASA Critical Care track (Dr. Dan Brown is Chair), and the SCA SOCCA panel (Dr. Shahzad Shaefi is Chair). Speaking at any one of these venues is a good way to define an area of expertise, gain CME experience, and gain experience producing and delivering educational content. If you have an idea about content related to any of the above meetings, let me or any of the above Chairs know! I’d also like to highlight some other ideas we are working on to make SOCCA more valuable to the practicing Anesthesiologist/Intensivist. Dr. Michael Fierro has been experimenting with a Twitter page (@SOCCA_CritCare) to give us more of an on-line identity. Do take a look! So far the site has mostly functioned as a journal club paper review forum, but it could easily be more. We are also working on updating our resident teaching manual to include clinical protocols gathered from SOCCA members (Dr. Linda Liu leads that process) and launching a project to describe the scope and breadth of SOCCA’s clinical practice. And, to allow SOCCA members to tap each other’s’ expertise, we are working on allowing members to declare their subspecialty expertise as part of the membership directory, and making that information available to all members so if you have a clinical question you can tap into our collective wisdom. Stay tuned! If you find any of the above projects interesting, or have other ideas for how SOCCA can provide value to our membership, please feel free to contact me ([email protected]) and I can put you in touch with the relevant parties. As our website states, “SOCCA fosters the knowledge and practice of critical care medicine by anesthesiologists through education, research, advocacy, and community” Now is a good time to start! |