President’s Corner
Dear WIA Supporters,
It’s hard to believe that after this last year, there is a light shining at the end of the tunnel. We are starting to discuss travel and in-person meetings! Despite this, COVID-19 is still around and hit my household in March. My daughter had an exposure in preschool, and my husband and son tested positive shortly thereafter. Both kids remained asymptomatic, but my vaccinated husband had allergy-like symptoms. I know that the vaccine kept his symptoms mild and protected me completely against an almost-inevitable household transmission. My personal experience made me grateful for all the brave adults and children who have participated in the vaccine trials. While we were quarantining, we saw my son’s classmates on the national news, as they were the first two children under 12 years old in the U.S. to receive the vaccine! The juxtaposition of my family having COVID-19 with mild symptoms, and seeing the hope of possible herd-immunity, was encouraging.
As our virtual speaker series winds down this year with Dr. Corinna Yu on June 27, 2021, WIA’s Board is starting to think about future events. This year, we will continue with a virtual annual meeting (tentative date in late October), but will also plan an in-person reception for those members attending the ASA Annual Meeting in San Diego. Our ultimate goal is a 2 day CME meeting in February 2023! In order to plan these events, we need volunteers. So please email us at info@womeninanesthesiology.org if you can help us plan some fantastic programming. Keep your eye on our social media channels for more information about all of these events.
If you missed our Speaker Series, you can still register to watch the talks and get 9 hours of CME. We were lucky to have a variety of phenomenal speakers, including Dr. Emily Methangkool, Dr. Allison Overmon, Dr. Asha Padmanabhan, Dr. Marjorie Stiegler, Dr. Meghan Lane-Fall, and Dr. Corinna Yu. We will likely continue with the series next year. Our research committee, led by Dr. Annery Garcia-Marcinkiewicz and Dr. Lisa Rong, is working to develop a speakers database, but until that is finished, we would love to hear your suggestions for speakers. I always have to remind you that we are an all-volunteer and non-profit organization, so we rely on YOU to help us to move forward. Please renew your membership (if you haven’t already) and consider a donation. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you are interested in volunteering or if you have ideas on how WIA can partner.
Happy summer!
Elizabeth B Malinzak, MD, FASA
President, Women in Anesthesiology, LLC