Message from the President

We had a great Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, a couple weeks ago. If you weren’t there, you definitely missed out! We had our largest meeting in 4 or more years with a lot of new and familiar faces. The Arizona Biltmore resort is a new favorite among our members and this was not overshadowed by the educational offerings, the food, or the Arizona sun. The things learned ranged from how to deal with new a-fib in an ASC (at Mike Presta’s expense!), Ozempic and NPO issues are new for all of us, DEA issues and the new requirement of CME, MRI safety drills, past-president snap talks, preview of SAMBA’s new diabetes consensus guidelines, and so much more. It was great seeing the number of side conversations and networking that happened, too. The poster sessions with cocktails really highlighted the project and clinical work being done by many of our members. (We had a record number of posters accepted, too!) Lastly, I want to thank our now Immediate-Past President, Dawn Schell, for giving a moving memorial for the passing of one our ambulatory legends, Dr. Rebecca “Rikki” Twersky. Although her long illness and the pandemic has kept her away from our meetings personally, her influence will be continued to be felt in our society for many years.

There is always great energy following our in-person meetings and I hope to harness this with our new committee assignments. If you already indicated your preferences, expect to hear back from us by July. I would like to use the Vice President role now filled by Alberto Ardon to run the committees similar to a cabinet. We will work together to set the goals (from committee reports) and use him a touch point throughout the year to keep working full steam ahead. In an effort to support SAMBA’s influence in anesthesia, BobbieJean Sweitzer is running for a position on Epic Anesthesiology Advisory Board. If you use Epic, please register at the Epic Earth site so you will get a ballot sent later in June.

I am honored to be elected president and will work to keep our society premier among societies and a meaningful home to our members for education, ambulatory anesthesia advancement, and professional standards available through our guidelines and member networking. I am always available for questions, and I look forward to an exciting year! Mark your calendars now for our next Annual Meeting in Savannah, Georgia on May 2-4, 2024.