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NewsletterUpdate on American Heart Association General: The American Heart Association (AHA) recently initiated reforms including: 1) changing the name of two scientific councils to specifically include anesthesiologists, 2) overall organization structural changes. Each of these reforms is described. AHA Council Name Changes to Encourage Anesthesia Members: The AHA is reaching out to anesthesiologists. Out of the 13 AHA scientific councils (see list below), 2 councils (Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery [CCVS] and Cardiopulmonary and Critical Care [CPCC]) have realized that due to overlapping interests between their members and the anesthesiology community, adding anesthesiologist members is a natural way to grow membership. At present, roughly 75 anesthesiologists are members of each of these 2 AHA councils, with CCVS members tending to be clinically oriented adult cardiac anesthesiologists and the bulk in the CPCC council anesthesia members critical care specialists, pediatric cardiac anesthesiologists, and/or physiology/basic scientists. The SCA has long recognized natural alignment between these two AHA councils; in fact the SCA designated official liaisons for each (Daniel Thys for CCVS and Debra Schwinn for CPCC) years ago. These 2 AHA councils feel so strongly about the importance of anesthesiologist members that they have recently proposed changing their names to be more inclusive. Specifically, the CCVS council will be adding the word "anesthesia" to their official council name (new name "Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia" [CSA]) and the CPCC council will be adding the word "Perioperative" to its title (new name "Cardiopulmonary, Perioperative, and Critical Care" [still CPCC]) in order to encourage anesthesiologists to join. The SCA Board of Directors has officially endorsed these changes. In summary:
AHA Organizational Changes: In 2003, the AHA changed the way members join the organization. In the past, members joined 1 (or more) AHA scientific councils, and then became members of the AHA indirectly through the council. Current AHA councils include the following: AHA Scientific Councils (alphabetical order)
With recently enacted reforms, every AHA member must join the national organization first, and then specify which council(s) he/she wants to be aligned. Identifying 1 council (with an optional 2nd) council is suggested. As a result, all dues will now be sent to the national organization and then passed down to the councils. While this created some consternation at first at the council level, in many ways membership is now simpler than in the past. Four tiers of AHA membership have been created as shown below. New AHA Membership Categories, Cost, and Benefits General: AHA Professional Membership offers a benefits structure tailor-made to each level of membership. All four levels of membership receive the Basic Benefits listed below, along with the 2003 membership fees. Premium Professional, Early Career, and Student/Trainee members receive additional benefits.
General Professional Benefits ($35/yr):
Student/Trainee Membership ($40/yr): Designed for those still in training as an undergraduate student, graduate student, resident, or postdoctoral/clinical fellow (eligible for this level of membership for no more than five years). Receive the Basic Benefits plus:
Early Career Membership ($55/yr): Designed for those who have completed training within the last five years, or PhDs/MDs in the five years after their first faculty appointment (eligible for this level of membership for no more than five years). Receive the Basic Benefits plus:
Premium Professional Membership ($150/yr): Receive the Basic Benefits plus:
AHA Fellowships and Awards: Anesthesiologists are eligible for all training fellowships and awards offered by the AHA; usually membership in the scientific council offering the award is required. A complete list of possibilities in this regard can be found at the AHA web site (http://www.americanheart.org). SCA members are strongly encouraged to examine these fellowships and awards since many are relevant to research performed by anesthesiologists and there is no citizenship requirement (a limitation of many other available awards). AHA awards include early career investigator awards, lifetime achievement awards, special recognition awards, and career achievement awards. As a case in point, 30 different early career development fellowships and awards are available through the AHA. Most of these awards simply require that the fellow/faculty member document they within 5 years of completing training, submit an abstract to the AHA, and submit a first author manuscript or research grant proposal by the deadline (usually close to the AHA abstract deadline). As of 2004, all applicants for AHA scientific council awards (and sometimes their mentors) will be required to be a professional member of the AHA - all the more reason to have anesthesiologists join the AHA! How Can I Join the AHA? The SCA is contemplating making it easier to join the AHA by having a check box on its membership form. If this comes to fruition, then if a SCA member is willing to have the AHA contact them about possible membership, all they would need to do is check a box giving permission for the SCA to release their name and contact information to the AHA. This does not commit a member to joining the AHA, but does enable the AHA to send informative materials so the SCA member can contemplate membership. Please note the following:
Debra A. Schwinn, M.D. Table of Contents:
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