Bittersweet and grateful
The big picture: This is my last President’s Message.
You know the long case where every minute is full and there’s no room to look up? Then you’re in PACU giving report, and you can’t believe you’re done. That’s how I feel now. Bittersweet is the right word.
What we did together:
🤝 Team and governance
- Built a team: a new legislative advocacy team, a new CME and meeting planner, and a transition to our new ED and DED
- Put our CSA strategic plan into action for advocacy, communications, education, membership, finance, and practice affairs
- Brought in Paul Pomerantz for professional board assessment and education to strengthen our infrastructure
- Introduced and implemented our first annual leadership norms and board member agreement, reaffirming our fiduciary responsibilities of care, loyalty, and fidelity, with a handout for board reference
- Approved a governance calendar that better aligns with the state legislative calendar, starting with this September’s House of Delegates
- Established a Governance Structure Task Force, led by Dr. Christine Doyle and ongoing, to look at whether reorganizing committees and divisions is appropriate
🗳️ Advocacy
- Wrangled AB 876 with our advocacy partners into something that preserves physician-led care
- Held our first legislative affairs strategic planning meeting
- Reinvigorated our Team 120 grassroots advocacy, led by Dr. Patrick Farmer
- Highlighted our title transparency win, with protections upheld by a federal court ruling on the use of “Doctor/Dr.” in California, on the Vital Times Podcast with Physicians Protecting Patients founder Dr. Rebekka Bernard
- Hosted a maternal health panel in Sacramento during Anesthesiologists Week with California Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos
- Led and engaged our advocacy partners with Dr. Mark Thoma on SB 1302, the Board of Registered Nursing Sunset Review
- Joined the Coalition to Save Our Dental Care and worked with stakeholders on two resolutions for the 2026 ASA House of Delegates on anesthesia, dental care, and patient safety
- Held a Resident Advocacy Rotation and workshop day in Sacramento, giving residents a look behind the curtain of the legislative process
📣 Communications and community
- Launched our Communications Division and delivered successful biweekly newsletters
- Held our largest Annual Conference to date at the Disneyland Hotel, with over 350 attendees. The presidents of the three largest state societies (California, New York, and Texas) were all women for the first time: myself, Dr. Stacey Watt, and Dr. Elizabeth Rebello
- Represented you at NMA, ASA, PGA, SAMBA, our Hawaii conferences, and CASA
- Engaged in an MOU with SOAP to expand reach and expertise for both organizations
- Developed and launched the CSA Harassment and Practice Management Survey, led by Drs. Rita Agarwal and Puja Trivedi
📚 Education and pipeline
- Developed and held our inaugural EPD strategic planning meeting, adding structure and fiduciary oversight for our educational programs
- Launched our new Learning Management System and began building a member webinar series, led by Dr. Jeff Kwok
- Launched the Pearl-Applegate medical student award for attending our annual meeting, honoring Drs. Ron Pearl and Richard Applegate for their years of work in CSA education
- Launched the CSA Foundation for Education’s first annual Research Awards, led by Dr. Mark Zakowski
- Published our first annual California Residency LookBook, showcasing our 19 residency programs, led by Dr. Rita Agarwal
- Worked with ASA to formally establish a medical student component liaison for California AIGs
🕊️ Remembered
- Honored the life and contributions of our friend and colleague Dr. Christopher Gabriel Tirce
Why it matters: We asked hard questions, pushed the envelope, and embraced change, always for patients and for you.
Thank you: Thank you for trusting me to lead CSA through a time of change and to advance our mission. To my mentors, colleagues, sponsors, staff partners, and every member who showed up: thank you. And to my family, especially my mom. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and the trajectory we’re on as a society.
What’s next: See you in Sacramento September 26–27 for the House of Delegates and Board of Directors meetings, Advocacy and Leadership Training, and the CSA Foundation for Education fundraising luncheon.
Be well, Be kind and Stay Vigilant.
Christina Menor, MD, MS, FASA
President, California Society of Anesthesiologists
ASA Delegate | Los Angeles, California