Sphere Articles

Bylaws and Rules

The Committee on Bylaws and Rules considers matters pertaining to the society’s bylaws and rules—and makes recommendations to the Board of Directors and House of Delegates (HOD) to amend the bylaws when needed.

Exploring Anesthesiology Through a Summer Research Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

“After our first year of medical school, we had the exciting opportunity to participate in the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) Medical Student Anesthesia Research Fellowship (MSARF) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). This eight-week summer research program was an important step in our journey into anesthesiology.”

Catch the “Wave”: Resident Education in Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Five years after the launch of the first Objective Structured Clinical Examination, it has expanded to include a separate section dedicated to POCUS. Assessment for abdominal free fluid along with gastric content and volume are to begin during this year’s round of testing, and sonographic evaluation of airway-related structures will start in 2027.

Resident and Fellow Section

Catch the “Wave”: Resident Education in Point-of-Care Ultrasound In the late 1960s, just as the word “groovy” was becoming popular in America, a radiology group in Philadelphia proved they could diagnose free intraperitoneal fluid with ultrasound using a cadaver model.1 This is one of the earliest recordings of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). From that point forward, […]

Dr. Rebecca S. Twersky: A Pioneer in Ambulatory Anesthesia Safety (1955–2023)

Rebecca Twersky, M.D., MPH, FASA, affectionately known as Riki, grew up as the third of four children in an Orthodox Jewish household in Los Angeles. Her father, a Holocaust survivor, was a prominent rabbi, and her mother was daughter of a rabbi who had emigrated to the United States after World War I. Dr. Twersky’s […]

Dr. Virginia Apgar: A Leader Born Through Adversity and Innovation (1909–1974)

Dr. Virginia Apgar is a pioneering figure in medicine—not only for her contributions to neonatal care, but also  for the resilience and vision that she embodied in a male-dominated field. Her most well-known contribution, the Apgar Score, has become the universal tool for evaluating newborns. Behind this life-saving innovation is a story of determination, adaptability […]

Dr. Gertie Florentine Marx: The Mother of Obstetrics Anesthesiology (1912–2004)

Dr. Marx was born in Frankfurt, Germany on Feb. 13, 1912, where she spent her childhood and later entered the University of Frankfurt as a medical student. After attending a rally where Adolf Hitler spoke, she convinced her Jewish family to leave Germany. They moved to Switzerland and she finished medical school at the University of Bern in 1937.

Past Women Anesthesiology Leaders of NYSSA

Take a few minutes to meet three extraordinary NYSSA woman anesthesiologists: Drs. Virginia Apgar, Gertie Marx and Rebecca Twersky. Each of these pioneers saw opportunity—and boldly forged a path that helped shape modern anesthesiology into a safer and more inclusive field.

Phasing Out Desflurane at Three New York State Institutions

Over the past decade, there has been movement towards eliminating desflurane usage both nationally and internationally, with Scotland, England, and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador officially phasing out the agent. This article chronicles the journey of three institutions in New York State as they phased out desflurane from their formularies—and provides guidance to other NYS hospitals looking to do the same.

Women Pioneers

For the past 20 years, women have comprised roughly half of all medical school classes in the United States. Yet only 36% of today’s full-time academic anesthesiologists in this country are women—and even fewer women hold leadership roles within the specialty. Here in the 21st century, the gender gap in anesthesiology still persists.

Scenes From PGA78

Legislative Update

In my last Legislative Update, I summarized cases of patient harm and anesthesia-related deaths at two California hospitals that utilized nurse anesthetists as their primary anesthesia providers. This led to a CMS investigation, a finding of “immediate jeopardy”, and the loss of accreditation at both hospitals because they allowed nurse anesthetists to administer anesthesia beyond the scope of their authority and with inadequate credentialing procedures.