COMMITTEE UPDATES

Education Committee

John F. Bebawy, MD
Chair, Education Committee

John F. Bebawy, MD

It was another amazing SNACC Annual Meeting in Boston! Many thanks must go to our Executive Committee and Board of Directors, who planned a vibrant and exciting meeting with so many outstanding speakers, topics and workshops. Those of us on the Education Committee were hard at work as well, listening to your thoughts about how we can improve both the content and breadth of our offerings to you, and actively working on our current initiatives that have been met with great enthusiasm. As you are aware, most of our educational endeavors appear on the SNACC website (www.snacc.org), and are freely accessible to you, whether you are a seasoned practitioner, a young faculty member, or a trainee who is interested in the perioperative and critical care neurosciences.

Our committee met on Friday morning, prior to the general session, and it was truly wonderful to convene our group again in person. We are an active group of self-selected neuroanesthesiologists, neurointensivists, and neuroscientists who are passionate about education, and I am very proud to be a part of this group.  We continue to actively increase the sheer volume of educational materials available to you, with monthly or quarterly updates of such initiatives as the Article of the Month, Neuroanesthesia Quiz, PBLDs, and Interactive Case Discussions, to name but a few. For those of you more inclined to listen rather than “click,” we have regular installments of audio interviews with topic experts, namely the Experts’ Audio Corner and the Fellows’ and Residents’ Audio Corner. Historically, this committee’s initial offering was the SNACC Bibliography, which underwent a significant format change five years ago and has been updated annually since then, with well-known experts providing the references.

While feedback from all of you has been outstanding (as evidenced by the number of visits to the various webpages), we are not willing to rest! We continue to pursue new initiatives, such as devising Neuroanesthesia Crisis Checklists that are evidence-based and easily accessible, while also improving the quality of our current projects with stricter peer review and incorporating what our former SNACC President, Dr. George Mashour, has labeled the “Three Pillars” philosophy of SNACC in all of our offerings: clinical neuroanesthesia/neurocritical care, neuroscientific underpinnings of anesthesia and care of the neurologically impaired (or at risk) patient undergoing non-neurologic surgery. Our committee is committed to ensuring that we deliver the highest quality content, and is actively pursuing new ideas with your feedback.

The Education Committee also held an engaging discussion on the future of Neuroanesthesia Fellowship accreditation, which is moving in the direction of a SNACC-accredited international fellowship system, and on the Neuroanesthesiology Milestones for resident education devised for the ACGME.  We would encourage all members to review this document, found on the SNACC homepage, and to share your thoughts via the feedback form provided there.
 
One last word on the Neuroanesthesia Education SIG (Special Interest Group): this has been a fascinating revelation to SNACC, led by Drs. Shobana Rajan and Angele Theard, which has provided some outstanding discussion about the future of neuroanesthesia education and training, and has already achieved a great deal. Much of what we know and understand regarding the needs and desires of potential fellows and current faculty for Neuroanesthesia Fellowship interest and accreditation comes from a survey conducted by this group.  Furthermore, the SNACC website now has a link which will partner a resident who is potentially interested in a Neuroanesthesia Fellowship with a “mentor” from our committee, as well as a Fellows Forum blog which will allow fellows across the world to communicate with each other for discussion of interesting cases or professional issues. A big thanks to this group for all they have achieved in such a short time!

In conclusion, we on the Education Committee are very happy with what we have been able to accomplish so far, but are even more excited about what the future holds! We will continue to provide you with high-quality content, to build upon what we offer already, and most importantly, to listen to your feedback and your needs. Please feel free to get in touch with me anytime with any comments, suggestions, or ideas about how we can make the SNACC Education Committee serve you better (j-bebawy@northwestern.edu).  On a personal note, it was so wonderful to see many of you again this year, both old friends and new, and I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco at the 2018 SNACC Annual Meeting!