By Harrison Chow, MD “A dream is a wish your heart makes when it is asleep” – Disneyland Hotel Pillow Fear Dream Survey #174, Kelley #1 In early October 2021 I received a welcome back text from Miranda Shull, a former Stanford CRNA who had just left to go to another hospital 2 months earlier. […]

By Jenny (Jia) Tang, MD, MBA The CSA Committee on the History of Anesthesia congratulates Dr. Jenny (Jia) Tang, the 1st place winner of the 2024 CSA History of Anesthesia Essay Contest! Dr. Tang, who was born in Singapore and raised in Fremont, California, is a CA-2 resident physician at UCLA. She loves traveling, scuba […]

By Bassam Kadry, MD Ramadan is a profound journey of spiritual renewal and self-discovery, inviting us to delve into the depths of mindful reflection and compassionate living. This sacred month, observed by a quarter of the world’s population, transcends religious boundaries, becoming a testament to the transformative power of the human spirit and our shared […]

By Jordan A. Francke, MD, MPH, and Betelehem Asnake, MD, MS “In a hospital in Shanghai today, where seventy-five women are in labor without anesthesia or analgesia, two to four mothers occupy a single bed and some sleep on the floor. Five premature infants occupy a single incubator. In Korea, Burma and China today, patients […]

By Rita Agarwal, MD, FAAP, FASA Highlights from a conversation with Diana Lautenberger for CSA’s Podcast, Vital Times. We have a problem in anesthesiology: we have the highest incidence of burnout, intention to leave and sexual harassment. Of any specialty. In July 2022 an article titled “Understanding and Addressing Sexual Harassment in Academic Medicine”1 was […]

The Vital Times 2023 online digital publication is now available! Read a recap of the 2023 year and how CSA celebrated it’s 75th Anniversary! CLICK HERE TO READ!

By Drs. Jackie Chen, Brian Kurtz, Mishan Rambukwella Through our medical training, we’ve come to realize that there is more to the practice of medicine than just the patient encounter, especially in the field of anesthesiology. Anesthesiologists are uniquely positioned in hospital ecosystems in a way that allows us to interact with multiple specialties and […]

Betelehem Asnake, MD, MS The field of anesthesiology in the United States plays a critical role in ensuring the well-being of patients during surgical procedures, yet the landscape remains marked by health disparities. Several published studies indicate that racial and ethnic disparities exist in anesthesia care. Memtsoudis et al found that Black, Native American, Asian, […]

By James Xie, MD Wishing everyone a Happy Lunar New Year! On February 10, 2024, many different cultures celebrated the new year based on the lunar calendar*. It is a time for celebration, family gatherings, and wishes for prosperity and good fortune for all. In Mandarin, people say “gong xi fa cai” which means “congratulations […]