The SOAP Board of Directors met during the ASA meeting. These mid-term meetings usually focus on items related to the upcoming SOAP annual meeting and other planning issues. Articles appear elsewhere in this issue describing some of the agenda items that were discussed but some additional details are worthy of note here.
During recent years, the SOAP Board has discussed developing a relationship with the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER). Board members believed that supporting FAER would be a worthy endeavor consonant with SOAP's desire to advance scientific investigation, particularly in the areas of interest to members elsewhere in this issue of the newsletter is a recommendation for SOAP members to apply for FAER research funding. Although SOAP's initial contribution is small ($1000) and pales in comparison to the often multi-thousand dollar contributions of other entities it was gratefully received by FAER, the director of which has indicated the foundation's desire to maintain a long-term relationship with our society.
SOAP's support for scientific research is ever broadening. The scientific endeavor of most prominence to the membership occurs at the annual meeting when research works-in-progress are presented. In addition, two major research grants are awarded annually. The first, the SOAP/Braun Fellowship in Obstetric Anesthesia is a $40,000 research grant made possible by generous funding from the B. Braun company. The second is the OAPEF/SOAP Research Starter Grant in the amount of $10,000. Both grants are awarded by the SOAP Board of Directors after evaluation of applications by the Research Committee and the Executive Committee of the SOAP Board. The current commitment from B. Braun is for funding to continue for the 1998 Fellowship. We hope to be fortunate enough to secure continuation of B. Braun's generous support. As contributions to OAPEF are maintained or, hopefully, increase, the OAPEF/SOAP research grant should be one that can continue into the foreseeable future.
The SOAP travel scholar program continues to be a resounding success. This year, the many applications under current consideration hail from four continents and give us the opportunity to impact the delivery of medical services to women in areas where modern obstetric anesthesia is not widely available. We expect to award at least two travel scholarships during the current process.
Finally, SOAP's relationship with ASA engendered significant discussion at the Board meeting. As a subspecialty society, SOAP exists as one component of an umbrella specialty society (ASA). Although ASA's decisions as they are perceived to affect obstetric anesthesiologists may not always sit well with some SOAP members, ASA's mandate is to represent the interests of all anesthesiologists or as many as it conceivably can. On occasion, groups within ASA have to subjugate their own desires and interests for the greater good. Just such a situation arose during recent months.
As the majority of SOAP members will be aware, this year marks the sesquicentenary of the first obstetric anesthetic. As obstetric anesthesiologists, our desire was that SOAP play a major role in the recognition of that anniversary at the ASA meeting. That expectation was initially endorsed by ASA's Committee on Communications. ASA leadership, on the other hand, believed that allowing SOAP representatives to express ASA's views and opinions would create a precedent that could potentially damage ASA's position as representing anesthesiologists in general. ASA has a committee structure that addresses all areas of anesthesiology endeavors and is loath to have that structure overwhelmed by subspecialists. That viewpoint is understandable when one considers that in obstetrics, for example, most anesthetics are not administered by fellowship-trained obstetric anesthesiologists but by generalists. Those generalists also provide anesthesia to patients undergoing procedures for which other subspecialty societies exist such as neurosurgical, cardiac, pediatric, and ambulatory anesthesia groups. Thus, ASA's structure takes into account the variety of interests of its members and seeks nominations for ASA committees that are as representative as possible. In this regard, the appropriate spokespersons for ASA on obstetric anesthesia issues continue to be members of the Committee on Obstetrical Anesthesia. There are usually a number of SOAP members on this committee often the chairperson is a SOAP member so SOAP's opinions will be heard!
Gerard M. Bassell, M.D.
President, SOAP