Announcing that the 2024 DCSA Abstract Presentation Award was awarded to Dr. Eric Casella who is a fellow at Childrens National Medical Center. He took part in a medical trip to St. Vincent and Grenadines to provide 18 surgeries to children from around the Eastern Caribbean during the course of the week. This award is offered to one anesthesia resident and/or fellow per year, training in the District of Columbia, will awarded $500 towards transportation, lodging and other travel expenses to offset the expenses of presenting an abstract at an upcoming meeting. Check in the Membership section of our website for the document downloads to see how to apply for this award.

DCSA is asking all physicians to join a letter asking the Committee on Health to remove all scope of practice expansion provisions from the HORA reform bill.  B25-545 would update the DC law regulating healthcare licensing in the District. The bill includes numerous changes to the District's scope of practice laws for CRNAs to give them independent practice without any physician collaboration. The DCSA, MSDC, AMA, and the healthcare community are concerned that this change in scope would endanger patients and raise the cost of healthcare in DC. You can see what many of these changes are at the MSDC website housed here at MSDC website. The Committee on Health is holding a "mark-up" (or vote of changes to the bill) in the coming weeks and if the scope language is not removed, it will be hard to prevent it from passing.  DCSA urges all members to write letters to their DC council members about Bill 25-545 and contact dcsasecretary@gmail.com with any questions on how to send the letters and other next steps. MEMBERS: see member documents to learn about Bill 25-545 in more detail.

This year, ASA's premier grassroots advocacy meeting on legislative, political and regulatory issues affecting the practice of anesthesiology will be held on May 13-15, 2024  at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The Day before the conference we will have a dinner with the ASA President Dr. Ronald Harter and other ASA representatives. The Maryland Society of Anesthesiologists will also join in hosting our ASA representatives. More details to come!

Are you an anesthesia resident who would like to practice anesthesiology in resource-poor setting outside the U.S.? You may be eligible to apply a scholarship opportunity from the ASA (Resident International Anesthesia Scholarship Program) and/or the DCSA (International Anesthesiology Scholarship Initiative). Check in the Membership section of our website for the document downloads.

The DCSA Annual Business meeting was held Thursday, October 26, 2023.  The evening included remarks by Dr. Leslie Biesecker, who is a renowned clinical investigator and Chief of the Center for Precision Health Research at NHGRI/NIH. He delivered a keynote speech about “A genomic approach to Malignant Hyperthermia." We also had elections for the DCSA Executive Committee for the next terms. Congratulations to our new members, and an expression of gratitude to those continuing their service. Below is the upcoming DCSA Executive Committee by role, with newly elected members (or those elected to new roles) highlighted in bold. Director: Dr. Yewande Johnson Alternate Director: Dr. Nina Rawtani Immediate Past-President: Dr. Michael Brennan President: Dr. Cathy Cao President-Elect: Dr. Robert Jacobson Vice-President: Dr. Jennifer Feldman-Brillembourg Treasurer: Dr. Nina Rawtani Secretary: Dr. Fay Horng Delegates to ASA: Drs. Parr, Feldman-Brillembourg and Rawtani Alternate Delegates: Dr. Beverly Chang, Dr. Hayward Evans, Dr. Elisha Peterson