Growing Meaningful Relationships at ANESTHESIOLOGY®: Dedicated Networking Events, Childcare, and More

Far-reaching and never-ending changes in the health care landscape are nothing new. From technological innovations to legislative changes to shifting workplace trends, the way we work to keep patients safe continues to evolve. Our annual meeting offerings and networking opportunities have adapted as well.

The meaningful connections you forge at the annual meeting can improve your well-being, give you purpose, lead to more research and career opportunities, stave off burnout, and even improve clinical care. But different attendees have different needs. The ASA Committee on Annual Meeting Oversight (AMOC) is working to ensure networking opportunities are more robust, diverse, and agile than ever. This year, we are making sure that whatever your networking goals are, ANESTHESIOLOGY 2023 has you covered.

The rich in-person networking events at ANESTHESIOLOGY will be unique and unmatched – you simply cannot find opportunities of this depth and scale anywhere else. To make sure we’re planning the right networking opportunities, AMOC listened to members and adapted our plans to meet your needs. You’ll find tried and true networking events such as Friday’s Medical Student Reception and Resident and Fellow-in-Training Reception; Saturday’s Grand Opening Reception and Lunch in the Exhibit Hall; Sunday’s Happy Hour; and Monday’s President’s Reception. And to make sure everyone feels welcome and finds plenty of opportunities to make connections, we’re offering additional events built around shared interests in the Meet-Up Lounge on the Exhibit Hall floor. Whether you’re a medical student or resident, mid- or late-career, you’ll find time and space for connecting with your peers.

We’re also making it easier for parents to take advantage of these opportunities. For the first time, this year’s meeting will offer childcare. It’s just another way we’re adapting in response to the needs you’ve shared with us.

The childcare services are designed to make it easier to attend and take full advantage of the event and related programming, and make it a little easier for attendees to integrate life and work. As Juan Cata, MD, Deputy Chair of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and Vice Chair of Clinical Research at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, told us, “The ANESTHESIOLOGY annual meeting is the best meeting to initiate new contacts and maintain already established academic professional relationships with national and international members. Having childcare this year expands the opportunity to connect, providing a convenient way to incorporate work-life integration, if needed, and bring their children.” Elizabeth Malinzak, MD, FASA, CPPS, CMQ, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Duke University School of Medicine, shared that her family “has never previously attended the annual meeting with me because of the challenges in finding childcare during my obligations at the meeting. This year, my daughter’s fall break from school overlaps with the meeting, and because of the new childcare offering, we can enjoy a fun mother-daughter trip together, which will allow me to still engage in many professional opportunities and allow her to see the important work that her mother does.”