History of Anesthesia

California Society of Anesthesiologists 2025 History of Anesthesia Essay & Video Contest

The Committee on the History of Anesthesia welcomes submissions from California residents, fellows, and medical students for the 2025 History of Anesthesia in California Essay & Video Contest. Entries will be judged in a blinded manner by the CSA History Committee on the following criteria: content, style, organization, accuracy, and formatting. Prior non-winning entries to this contest may also be edited and re-submitted if an original author is still in school or in training.

All contest participants will receive an old historical book from the Guedel Collection. The CSA Foundation for Education will award a first-place prize of $1000 and a second-place prize of $500. After incorporating feedback from the CSA History Committee, the first- and second-place winners will send their essays to the CSA Committee on Professional and Public Communication for publication in CSA Online First and Vital Times. The first-place winner will also receive the honor of presenting during the 2025 CSA Annual Meeting, complimentary conference registration, and up to $500 for travel expenses. 

If any winning essay has more than one author, the cash prize will be shared. Only one representative may be awarded registration and travel costs to attend the CSA Annual Meeting.

Topics: We welcome ANY topic related to the history of anesthesia. (It need not be limited to California.) Some examples include (and are not limited to):

• An interview with a senior/emeritus faculty member or other luminary of anesthesia history
• A notable achievement by an anesthesiologist. The CSA History of Anesthesia Timeline may be a resource: http://csahq.org/about-us/history-of-anesthesia.
• A historical event or theme that significantly affected the practice of anesthesia.
• A topic inspired by historical documents of the Arthur E. Guedel Anesthesia Collection, which can be found on Calisphere: https://calisphere.org/collections/27436/.

Length and Formatting:

• < 1,000 words, excluding references
• A title is required
• Microsoft Word, Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced, 1-inch margins
• Video entries are also permitted, as long as they are also accompanied by a written transcript that complies with the essay requirements

References:

• Minimum of 3 references, formatted according to the AMA Manual of Style

Identification: While all identifying information will be hidden for judging, please provide the following for communication purposes:

• The first author’s e-mail address, mailing address, and mobile phone number
• The academic affiliations and titles of all authors.

Mentorship:

We highly encourage you to seek guidance from a faculty member at any academic institution in California. The following members of the CSA History Committee may also be contacted:

• Jane Moon, M.D. (JSMoon@mednet.ucla.edu)
• Victor Ng, M.D. (victor.ng@ucsf.edu)
• Merlin Larson, M.D. (merlin.larson@ucsf.edu)
• Jay Brodsky, M.D. (jbrodsky@stanford.edu)
• Robert Scott Kriss, D.O. (rskriss@ucdavis.edu)
• Jane Ahn, M.D. (jcahn@hs.uci.edu)
• Ryan Field, M.D. (fieldr@hs.uci.edu)
• Govind Rajan, M.D. (grajan@hs.uci.edu)
• Bob Rodbumrung, M.D. (trodbumr@stanford.edu)
• Anuj Aggarwal, M.D. (akaggarw@gmail.com)
• Mark Singleton, M.D. (msingular@sprintmail.com)

Please send questions & entries to anes.history.CA@gmail.com

The contest deadline is 12:00 p.m. (PST) on Saturday, January 11, 2025.

Mission Statement

To preserve and to disseminate information about the history of physician anesthesia in California for the public and the anesthesia community. To increase engagement with history and to connect it to present-day practice.

View the Arthur E. Guedel Anesthesia collection on Calisphere.