I
hope the holidays were enjoyable for you all, and everyone had some well-deserved
time off! Now it's time to begin thinking about our Annual Meeting in Phoenix.
The abstract deadline is January 31 for your online submission at www.soap.org.
We have a new on-line submission program since last year, developed by Ruggles,
our management company. In addition to our usual basic and clinical science
investigations, SOAP is accepting case reports and case series in 2003.
In the last newsletter I talked about the Maternity Center Association (MCA) press release on their symposium. Since then, they have released the results of a national survey done by Harris Interactive involving nearly 1600 women. The survey addressed all aspects of childbirth from antepartum care to postpartum emotional state. The majority of the comments on epidural analgesia were quite positive. If you'd like to know what your patients are reading, there is a very good summary in the December/January 2002 Parenting magazine. To quote from the article: "When it comes to medication, 63% of the respondents had epidurals [74% of first-time mothers]. And doctors say that's a good choice: The latest research has found no evidence of an increase in the number of c-sections among those who have them. They contain lower doses of anesthesia, which is good for the mother, and none of the drug reaches the baby. And some women who are progressing slowly because they're tense and in a lot of pain will actually relax and dilate faster after receiving an epidural." The article goes on to quote the MCA representative who notes that epidurals lead to more interventions such as urinary catheters, IVs and continuous fetal monitoring. She states: "Women don't always realize that choosing an epidural is choosing a technology-intensive birth." Overall, the survey found 96% of women surveyed were satisfied with the health care they received, including their analgesic management.
SOAP is affiliated with Anesthesiology as its official journal, and they provide support for us in many ways. Each year at the ASA Annual Meeting the journal sponsors a symposium, and in 2003 the symposium will feature Obstetric Anesthesia. The event will be a two-hour oral abstract session featuring some of SOAP's best researchers including those funded by SOAP/FAER grants. The organizers, Jim Eisenach, Valerie Arkoosh and Dick Wissler, will also be soliciting abstract submissions. This symposium will be well advertised through the journal and at the annual meeting, and should provide excellent exposure for the subspecialty.
Mike Todd, Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesiology is also very interested in soliciting review articles and Clinical Commentary manuscripts on obstetric anesthesia for the journal. If you would like to submit a manuscript, contact the appropriate editor of that section for approval of the topic, and then the manuscript will undergo the usual peer review process. We would all like to see more work in our subspecialty featured in the journal. Finally, when you go to the Anesthesiology web site, you will find rotating banner announcements regarding the upcoming deadline for the 2003 SOAP abstracts. This is excellent exposure and advertising for SOAP's annual meeting, in addition to the ads run within the journal.
At our 2003 Annual Meeting in Phoenix we will be voting on three amendments to our bylaws at the Business Meeting. The first has to do with the SOAP election process. In order to give the membership advance notice of nominees for office, it is being proposed that the names of candidates for officers and elected members of the Board of Directors be posted in advance of the Annual Business Meeting in a place readily visible to members attending the Annual Meeting. This would probably be at the Registration Desk and possibly also in the pre-meeting newsletter. In the event that more than two candidates are nominated for the same office, the winner will be determined by a single majority vote using an instant runoff technique. The second itemas to do with our name. At our 2002 Business Meeting, several suggestions for changes to the society's name were made from the floor. The Bylaws Committee contacted SOAP members by e-mail to solicit opinions, and over 100 members responded. There was no consensus and the Bylaws Committee recommends that we defer any action on our name until a clear consensus for change emerges. The third item concerns a section in our contract with Anesthesiology entitled "Liaison". Our bylaws currently state that the "Section Editor of the Journal" will be appointed for a 2-year term. Since Anesthesiology doesn't have section editors, the proposed bylaws amendment would read "The Journal Liaison serves as a link to the official SOCIETY journal, using the needs and desires of this SOCIETY as a guide, and with direction from the Board of Directors if indicated." The exact wording of these amendments will be published in the pre-meeting edition of the newsletter so members can be prepared to vote on them at the Business Meeting Saturday, May 17, 2003 in Phoenix.
Please reserve the time and make your plans to attend the 2003 SOAP meeting in Phoenix May 14-17. The Preliminary Program has been mailed and it is obvious that Dick Wissler, President-elect and Craig Palmer, Meeting Host have done a superb job. I look forward to seeing everyone there!
Joy L. Hawkins, MD
SOAP President