Steering Committee Members
The New England Anesthesia Residents Conference Committee Steering Committee at the Massachusetts Society of Anesthesiologists (MSA) is the successor of the NEARC sub-committee of the Programs Committee of the Massachusetts Society of Anesthesiologists. The original MSA sub-committee was formed upon the proposal of then MSA President Ruben J. Azocar, MD (2011) to promote the cause of the NEARC, to provide support and guidance to the program hosting the NEARC, and to preserve the spirit of the NEARC as a meeting of residents for residents. It was a validation of the NEARC and a highlight for the sub-committee when it was contacted in the Fall of 2012 by the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) who invited and hosted the top 2 resident abstract persenters to be hosted at the 2013 IARS meeting to present their work. A program that was to be continued annually by the IARS.
The MSA NEARC sub-committee completed its mission under the leadership of Roman Schumann, MD in the spring of 2013. His proposal to the MSA leadership to evolve this committee to a new steering committee with out-of-state participation and a broader scope of its mission and authority was met with agreement at the MSA Executive Committee.
The NEARC Steering Committee at the MSA is comprised of interested New England anesthesiologists committed to consistent participation in its work. Following the first meeting by conference call in May 2013, Bala Subramaniam, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at BIDMC was elected the steering committee's first chair, and Beverly Chang, MD, CAII resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital (2013, MSA CORA member) became the first co-Chair/Secretary. In May of 2015, Dinesh Jagannathan, MD, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at University of Massachusetts and Gustavo Lozada, MD, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Tufts Medical Center became the co-Chairs of the Steering Committe.
The MSA has continued to support NEARC financially as well as administratively, and has given the NEARC a web presence, where interested parties may obtain more information about past and future meetings as well as how to host a NEARC .
In addition to the previous MSA sub-committee mission, the new Steering Committee's goals include, but are not limited to, the expansion of New England program participation, establishment of a predictable meeting roster, setting meeting standards, assisting hosts in providing an annual abstract review and grading committee, and to develop reliable funding sources for the event that hosts can access. The NEARC information portal resides on the MSA website.
TERM
All NEARC Steering Committee members are adjunct members of the MSA Programs Committee and will be appointed for a two year term.
MISSION
1 - Assure the continuity of NEARC
The Steering Committee will assemble and maintain a reference list of all NEARC meetings since 2007 including host institutions names and the respective annual NEARC programs and presentations. Going forward, host institutions will be asked to provide this information to this committee. A web based repository will be established at the MSA website in order for interested individuals and institutions to access this information.
The Steering Committee will recruit New England State Anesthesiology Societies to the cause of NEARC to disseminate NEARC information to their residency programs and provide financial assistance to host institutions on an annual basis. To guarantee fair rotation of NEARC between institutions and improved predictability for hosts, the Steering Committee will propose a NEARC rotation schedule. Additional measure will be proposed as the Steering Committee evolves.
2 - Provide support and guidance to the program hosting NEARC
A generic NEARC meeting framework, that describes a reasonable meeting outline (poster and or oral presentations, themed lectures), degree of residents participation in the meeting organization, timeframe and address list for meeting information dissemination, options for CME credit application and financial support resources will be developed and maintained by the Steering Committee. Prior experience by past hosts can be shared. This information will be posted at the MSA website for ready access by prospective host institutions.
3 - Preserve the spirit of NEARC as a meeting of residents for residents
The Steering Committee will offer to prospective host institutions to submit their program for review and assistance in design to maintain the original NEARC meeting spirit.
As such, the NEARC Steering Committee of the MSA assumes a leadership role for the maintenance and guidance of NEARC for the New England states, and further mission goals will evolve parallel to the overall progress of NEARC as an important professional program for New England Anesthesiology Residents.
