Education Committee Update

This time of the year the SOCCA Education Committee turns its focus toward the final planning of the Annual Meeting in San Francisco. This year the meeting will comprise up to three days of content beginning with a new board review course on Thursday, May 14; followed by the dedicated SOCCA day on Friday, May 15; and finally aligned SOCCA-IARS content on Saturday, May 16.

For the first time, SOCCA will offer a dedicated board review course immediately prior to the Annual Meeting. The addition of a board review course highlights the inception of a broader educational approach by SOCCA. Practically speaking, the board review day will not only provide valuable education for individuals preparing for the board exam, but also an opportunity for junior faculty to speak at a national level. By dovetailing the course with the SOCCA meeting day, trainees and junior faculty will also be able to easily participate in the meeting itself.

We are looking forward to a SOCCA Annual Meeting that again features four distinct education sessions covering a variety of topics. We were fortunate to recruit an outstanding lineup of speakers who are true experts on the topics they will present. In addition to the core education sessions, we are happy to share that we received a record number of abstract submissions. The selected abstracts will be presented during two distinct poster sessions on the day of the Annual Meeting, culminating in the presentation of the Young Investigator Award for the best abstract submitted to SOCCA.

The IARS Annual Meeting will start the day after our meeting, Saturday, May 16. We are again proud to present a number of exciting aligned sessions that feature critical care anesthesiology experts presenting on critical care-related topics to the greater anesthesiology community attending the IARS. Attendance at the aligned day is included in the SOCCA Annual Meeting registration fee.

At the time of the SOCCA Annual Meeting, planning for next year’s meeting begins. The SOCCA Education Committee has changed substantially over the past two years. From a small group dedicated to plan the SOCCA Annual Meeting, we have evolved to a strong committee with now 16 members. We are fortunate to have a diverse group of national experts working together to broaden our educational portfolio and striving to maintain our high-quality meeting structure and content.

Author

Peter von Homeyer, MD, FASE

SOCCA Annual Meeting Chair

Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine

University of Washington School of Medicine

Seattle, Washington