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NEWS VOLUME 58 // SUMMER 2014 // EDITOR GABRIEL M. GURMAN 58 ESA Vacancies Euroanaesthesia 2014 Minutes of the General Facts & Figures Assembly 2014 5 6-7 8-10 News from the President // DANIELA FILIPESCU // ESA PRESIDENT // [email protected] Dear Colleagues, Dear Friends, // Awards Ceremony It gave me a great pleasure to welcome many of you to the 10th edition The many prizes and grants awarded during the congress, including the of Euroanaesthesia in Stockholm, from 31 May-3 June. With 5255 new Young Investigators Start-up Grant and a third industry supported attendees (6756 participants including industry) from 104 countries prize are more proof of the society’s objective to continue training, around the world, the annual congress has developed into one of the educating, researching and informing. largest and most prestigious anaesthesiology congresses in the world. Euroanaesthesia is the flagship event bringing together practicians and // Honorary Membership researchers in anaesthesia, peri-operative medicine, intensive care Sir Peter Simpson was the first elected President of the amalgamated medicine, pain therapy, and emergency medicine and the healthcare ESA in 2006. Sir Peter guided and led the ESA through this transition industry from around the world, show casing what the ESA is about: period to a consolidated organisation. In recognition of his outstanding advancing anaesthesiology through education, research, debate and contribution to the ESA, I was particularly proud to present Sir Peter information. The ESA Board, the Committees & Subcommittees, and with Honorary Membership of our society. the Secretariat worked closely to prepare what was once again an exceptional and stimulating programme. // Opening ceremony The following events were some of the highlights of the 10th The formal programme of the Opening Ceremony closed with a talk Euroanaesthesia Congress: by Martha Ehlin who recounted her battle to beat cancer by receiving five organ transplants. Martha’s story is an inspiration to us all as is the // Sir Robert Macintosh Lecture altruism of the families of the donors and a reminder of the ongoing need to raise public awareness of organ donation. Prof. François Clergue honoured us by delivering the Sir Robert Macintosh lecture. Addressing a packed hall, Prof. Clergue elaborated The National Organising Committee under the chairmanship of Lennart upon on the improvements in postoperative mortality, the changing role Christiansson put together a fun and enjoyable programme of snippets of the anaesthesia team and staffing pressures. The major change in our of Swedish choir and folk music culminating with the whole audience discipline has come from the improvement in patient safety. The safety singing along to the greatest hits of Sweden’s iconic pop group ABBA. target for the next decade should be to reduce postoperative mortality by 20%. Anaesthesiology must have a broader role in partnership with surgeons and others by embracing peri-operative optimisation. 01 // General Assembly I am delighted to announce that Dr. Zeev Goldik, launch of the Helsinki Declaration on Patient the chair of the Examinations Committee since Safety in Anaesthesiology in 2010. The Patient 2006, has been elected President-Elect of the Safety Task Force born from this initiative and ESA by the ESA Council. He will formally take the Scientific Subcommittee on Patient Safety up his position on the ESA Board of Directors joined forces and resources and has now in January 2015. I also congratulate Prof. Walid officially merged to form the ESA Patient Safety Habre and Prof. Andreas Sandner-Kiesling Committee. The new committee will work who were re-elected as non-officers to the closely with the NASC and has a major role in Board of Directors. Ensuring continuity of the vision and undertakings of our society. The society’s mission, aims, values and activities inaugural European Master Course in Patient is a challenge as we all lead such busy and Safety confirms the widespread interest and industrious professional lives. demand for ongoing education on this topic. // Scientific programme // Research The success of Euroanaesthesia 2014 is due in The ESA Clinical Trial Network (CTN) is currently first place to the tireless and dedicated work of coordinating 8 clinical studies involving Prof. Stefan De Hert, the chair of the Scientific between 20 and 160 centres in Europe, under Committee, and the extensive cooperation and the leadership of Prof. Andreas Hoeft, the involvement of the members of the 19 ESA chairperson of the ESA Research Committee. Scientific Subcommittees. The planning of the Several studies funded or part-funded by the programme started 15 months prior the event ESA were discussed during dedicated sessions. which consisted of: 350 speakers, 143 sessions The publication of the PROVHILO study in The in 12 parallel rooms, 7 pre-congress courses, 24 Lancet on the Sunday of the congress could refresher courses, 78 symposia, 4 workshops, not have been better planned! The study 13 lectures, 3 meet the expert sessions, 14 run by the PROVE Network Investigators and pro-con debates and the presentation of 881 the ESA CTN represents a wide collaboration abstracts. among anaesthesiologists across Europe and worldwide, and as such may serve as an // E-learning example of future research. New activities are traditionally launched at // ESA stand Euroanaesthesia. The ESA Academy introduced the first peer-reviewed modules of the new The cleverly designed ESA stand clearly ESA e-learning platform. The platform gives illustrated the ESA activities and the interaction easy access to state-of-the art knowledge of the ESA National Anaesthesiologists Societies prepared by committee members and enables and the ESA Specialist Societies in mutual anaesthesiologists to remain up to date with support of each other. After the great success rapidly growing medical information. You can of the first photo contest in Barcelona, the log into this service via the ESA website. winners of the 2014 contest delighted us again with their artistic skills. The 20 best photographs // EDAIC 30th Anniversary were selected and were displayed at the ESA booth. The first 12 photographs will illustrate This year, the European Diploma in the cover of the EJA during the next year. Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (EDAIC) celebrated its 30th anniversary. A special // Exhibition session dedicated to the evolution of the EDAIC and a celebratory reception were Last and not least I must mention the busy trade organised at the congress. Anaesthesiologists exhibition with 103 companies presenting state were the first to introduce a pan-European of the art equipment and newest techniques, Diploma, with the core aim of harmonising the the latest products, services and technologies. Daniela Filipescu // ESA President quality of the education throughout Europe. The many well-attended lunchtime industry The initial examination has expanded from a organised symposia are testimony that written exam with 100 candidates in 2 centres academia and industry can and must continue to a Part I written exam with 2700 candidates working side by side. spread over 49 centres and offered in 12 languages; and a Part II oral exam with more Euroanaesthesia is of course an event to meet than 700 applicants spread over 12 centres. up with many old friends and colleagues from More than 3000 Diplomates have been far flung places. I hope that you returned to awarded the EDAIC over the past 30 years. We your hospital inspired and ready to tackle new extend our thanks and congratulations to the challenges. We look forward to continuing founders, the Examinations Committee, the to training, improving and learning together examiners and hosts for making the EDAIC a throughout the year and to seeing you again in great success. Berlin next May! // Patient safety Yours sincerely, Patient safety was recognised as a significant Daniela Filipescu // area of research and activity by the ESA with the ESA President EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF ANAESTHESIOLOGY 02 Sir Robert Macintosh Lecture // 2014 Photo Contest Winners // Sir Peter Simpson being awarded with Honorary Membership of the ESA // 30th anniversary of the EDAIC // 03 Physicians as writers // why are we so special? GABRIEL M. GURMAN // EDITOR // [email protected] Last year our Newsletter published details of a literary contest, amount of stories about our patients, their sufferance and open to our young readers, with the aim of encouraging them diseases, about their families, crises in life and scenes from to put in writing short stories inspired by their professional family life. We called it anamnesis, but each of these histories life. The idea of this contest was not spontaneous, but rather could be easily transformed into a short story or a chapter based on a long tradition of physicians as writers. The list in a novel. Some would say that patients use to confess to a of famous writers, who practiced medicine while writing physician more than to a priest! We get intimate details from literature is too long to be published here. But it would be the patient's life, which nobody would dare to share with any enough to mention some very well known names, such as other person except his/her physician. On the other side, we AJ Cronin, Alfred de Musset, John Keats, F. Rabelais, Conan are able to listen to a patient not only as doctors, but also as Doyle, Somerset Maugham, Michael Crichton, Georges storytellers, by trying to understand the substrate of his/her Duhamel, or Carlo Levi, to understand this special inclination complains and find the cause and effect relationship of the of physicians to write belletristic. complains. Isn't this a perfect framework for a story to be put on paper and transformed into a literary piece of work? One cannot forget Anton Chekhov, the famous Russian writer, who expressed in splendid sentences the impact But more than this, we as anaesthesiologists are involved daily literature might have on the physician's daily professional in the critical care area, face human sufferance and tragedy activity.