Pitt Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine

Today is , a day for us to honor the struggle of African Americans for freedom and full equality.

We recognize the historical disparities and underrepresentation of African Americans in and . Acknowledging this history is the first step towards fostering an environment where all individuals can thrive and contribute to the advancement of health and medical sciences and patient care.

We know that diverse teams bring diverse perspectives, which enhances creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. This is particularly important in anesthesiology and perioperative medicine, where the health and lives of our patients depend on our ability to work collaboratively and think critically.

We commit to promoting diversity and inclusion through recruitment and retention, education and awareness, and community engagement.

Let us celebrate the progress made, acknowledge the challenges that remain, and continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion are woven into the very fabric of our department's work - including education, training, research, and clinical care.

Grace Lim, MD, MS, has been approved for a $100,000 funding award through the Eugene Washington Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute - PCORI Engagement Award Program, for her project, “Elevating Anesthesia Choices for Cesarean Delivery: A Roadmap to Patient-Centered Research (ELEVATE).” https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/dr-grace-lim-approved-100000-engagement-award-develop-guidance-future-patient-centered

🫀 Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Forum on June 19 at 6:30 am: Drs. Mariusz Ligocki and Luca La Colla will present "Pain Blocks for Cardiac Surgery."

📅 Event details: https://buff.ly/3Se9BDn

🎆🏥 Andrew Meister, MD, has been appointed Medical Director of UPMC South Surgery Center in Bethel Park, effective July 1, 2024.

As the new Medical Director of UPMC South Surgery Center, Dr. Meister will oversee the delivery of surgical care to all patients, supervise the administration of anesthesia, and ensure the regular review and evaluation of the quality and appropriateness of patient care: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/dr-andrew-meister-appointed-medical-director-upmc-south-surgery-center

Trent D. Emerick, MD, MBA, FASA has been awarded a $175,000 grant from the Beckwith Institute’s Clinical Transformation Program for his project investigating the use of in an inpatient surgical population: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/dr-trent-emerick-receives-beckwith-institute-grant-study-post-surgery-psilocybin-use

🍨 Team-building fun at UPMC Montefiore Center for Perioperative Care (CPC)! Our team came together for a fantastic ice cream social.

📚 Faculty Development Lecture on June 13 at 5:00pm: Dr. Erin Sullivan will present “The Anesthesia Care Team and Advocacy." Faculty members and trainees in our department are invited to attend.

📅 Event details: https://buff.ly/3PRHOHI

June list is out! Check out the publications authored or co-authored by members of our team that were published over the past month: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/june-2024-publications

🙌🎉🤰 Our Fellowship Program celebrated its 2024 graduates Kumiko Chino, MD, and Kylie Grady, MD, at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. Drs. Chino and Grady were honored for their outstanding achievements and dedication to obstetric anesthesiology: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/celebrating-excellence-ob-anesthesiology-fellowship-program-graduates-2024

👩🏼‍🤝‍👩🏽 OB Anesthesiology & Women's Health Grand Rounds on June 11 at 6:45 am: Dr Anne Lavoie will present "General Anesthesia Updates: Top 10 Practical Tips to Reduce Obstetric General Anesthesia, and the Obstetric Difficult Airway: State of the Art."

📅 Event details: https://buff.ly/3PuCIkP

👏🥳🎉 We are delighted to announce that Ann Martin, GME Academic Manager, was recognized with the UPMC Medical Education Administrator Award for the Month of May 2024: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/ann-martin-honored-upmc-medical-education-administrator-month-award

June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate diversity and inclusion within the le***an, gay, bisexual, transgender, and q***r (LGBTQ+) community. We invite everyone to join us in showing support and solidarity as we make this Pride season the best one yet! https://buff.ly/454iBB3

Join us for 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️, including the March and Parade tomorrow, Saturday, June 1st, starting at noon!

In the Steel City, we have an exceptionally vibrant + community, grounded in support and inclusivity for the most marginalized among us. Our Pride’s leadership is unique in that it reflects the diversity of our own — Pittsburgh Pride is organized by a group of local LGBTQ+ organizations, including Trans YOUniting. We rise in Pride, standing tall as a beacon of the rust belt’s revival and the joy of honoring those that came before us.

Pittsburgh Pride 2024 Home - Pittsburgh Pride 2024 Welcome to the Pittsburgh Pride. Join us in the heart of Pittsburgh as we celebrate love, diversity, and inclusivity at the annual Pittsburgh Pride Parade. Our vibrant parade is a symbol of unity, showcasing the rich tapestry of our community. Connect with local organizations, businesses, and commun...

💜 The UPMC Presbyterian-Shadyside Diversity Mentorship Program celebrated the graduation of its inaugural class on May 14, 2024.

Throughout the year-long program, mentees participated in four comprehensive training sessions: “DISC: Your Behavioral Style,” “Owning Your Professional Growth,” “Strengths Finder,” and “Creating Brand You.” The program’s participants, both mentees and mentors, represented a variety of departments across the hospitals, including Food & Nutrition, Nursing, Environmental Services, Pharmacy, Volunteer Services, Information Systems, Sports Management, and Patient Relations.

Launched last year, the Diversity Mentorship Program is dedicated to providing mentorship opportunities to emerging leaders of color at UPMC Presbyterian and Shadyside hospitals. Its mission is to empower these employees through one-on-one mentorship, fostering relationships that support personal and professional growth: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/upmc-presbyterian-shadyside-celebrates-graduation-first-inaugural-diversity-mentorship-program

now offers the ability to function within multiple areas of medicine—from basic biomedical and translational to clinical practice and beyond.

While research in AI has largely focused on the intricacies of AI and the current/potential applications that this may have for clinical practice, there is a notable scarcity of literature addressing how AI may assist with the discharge process.

This article by Division authors Drs. Michael Glicksman, Pawan Solanki, Scott Brancolini, Danielle Zheng, and Trent Emerick provides insight on AI use for discharge instructions: https://www.asra.com/news-publications/asra-newsletter/newsletter-item/asra-news/2024/05/02/does-ai-have-a-role-in-discharge-instructions-exploring-the-clinical-utility-of-ai-generated-discharge-instructions-following-interventional-spine-procedures

Grand Rounds on May 30 at 5:00pm: Dr. Rodney Gabriel will present “Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Anesthesiology.”

📅 Event details: https://buff.ly/4bsfLIc

🤰🫄🫃 The highly anticipated third edition of the textbook Obstetric Anesthesia and Uncommon Disorders was edited by Grace Lim, MD, MS, and includes chapters from including several members of our team.

🔗 Read more: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/new-edition-obstetric-anesthesiology-textbook-features-work-ob-team

🔬 Research Rounds on May 28 at 3:00pm: Dr. Mihaela Visoiu will present "Simulation in Teaching Pediatric Regional Anesthesia."

📅 Event details: https://buff.ly/46ZhWQY

🧪⚗️ ⚛ A new review article by Drs. Jacques Chelly, Shiv Goel, Jeremy Kearns, Orkun Kopak, and Senthil Sadhasivam explores for management, a paramount strategy in the midst of the crisis.

This paper dives deep into the world of nano and quantum technology, uncovering exciting possibilities for pain relief without the use of opioids or traditional analgesics.

Read more:

Nanotechnology for Pain Management Introduction: In the context of the current opioid crisis, non-pharmacologic approaches to pain management have been considered important alternatives to the use of opioids or analgesics. Advancements in nano and quantum technology have led to the development of several nanotransporters, including n...

Join us on this Friday, May 24, for the White Coats Against Racism & Injustice Kneel ✊🥼

https://diversity.dom.pitt.edu/event/white-coats-against-racism-injustice-kneel/

Grand Rounds on May 23 at 5:00pm: Dr. James Philip will present “Improving Clinical Care Using Inhalation Anesthesia Kinetics.”

📅 Event details: https://buff.ly/3UpSwHR

🎖️🥳 Congratulations to Trent D. Emerick, MD, MBA, FASA, and Ajay D. Wasan, MD, for their well-deserved recognition in Castle Connolly’s 2024 “Top Doctors” list in the specialty of .

This marks the third consecutive year that Dr. Emerick has been honored with this distinction, and Dr. Wasan has been named in top doctor or best doctor programs every year since 2006: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/drs-trent-emerick-and-ajay-wasan-named-2024-top-doctors-pain-medicine

Our faculty will present their work at the upcoming meetings of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS), the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (SOCCA), and the Society for the Advancement of Transplant Anesthesia (SATA) in Seattle, WA. IARS/SOCCA will take place on May 17-19, 2024, and SATA will take place on May 19-20, 2024: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/faculty-participation-iarssoccasata-meetings

📱Pip, a cutting-edge digital health developed by Pip Care in partnership with our department, is revolutionizing care! Newly published by authors in our department and Pitt Surgery, Neurological Surgery, and Orthopedic Surgery showcases the power of Pip, marrying human health coaches with innovative technology to optimize patient outcomes like never before.

🌟 172 patients embraced Pip's guidance from pre-op to post-op, with an impressive 80.2% engaging in health coach sessions. The results speak volumes – patients reported high satisfaction levels and a strong sense of support throughout their surgical experience.

🏥 Patients using Pip experienced a significant reduction in length of hospital stay, demonstrating the platform's potential to streamline recovery processes.

👉 Read more:

A Novel Digital Health Platform With Health Coaches to Optimize Surgical Patients: Feasibility Study at a Large Academic Health System - PubMed Pip is a novel mobile DHP combining human HCs and perioperative optimization content that is feasible to engage patients in their perioperative journey and is associated with reduced hospital LOS. Further studies assessing the impact on clinical and patient-reported outcomes from the use of Pip or s...

We are proud to share that Tetsuro (Ted) Sakai, MD, PhD, MHA, FASA, has accepted the distinguished role of the new Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/dr-tetsuro-sakai-become-chair-unc-anesthesiology

🏆 In recognition of her excellence in patient care and unwavering dedication, Maeve O'Donnell, MSN, CRNA, received the UPMC Mercy Hospital Advanced Practice Provider Award. This accolade celebrates Maeve's exceptional performance and commitment to her role within the healthcare community: https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/news/maeve-odonnell-honored-upmc-mercy-app-award-exemplary-service

Grand Rounds on May 16 at 5:00pm: Dr. Ibrahim Sultan will present “Acute Aortic Dissection: The Pittsburgh Paradigm.”

📅 Event details: https://buff.ly/3UIpk05

🫀 Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Forum on May 15 at 6:30 am: Drs. Michael Massey and Alice Whyte will present "Lung Transplant ERAS."

📅 Event details: https://buff.ly/3HyK8jq

👩🏼‍🤝‍👩🏽 OB Anesthesiology & Women's Health Grand Rounds on May 14 at 6:45 am: Dr. Jennifer Weller will present our Ezzat I. Abouleish Memorial Lecture "Ethics, Humanity, and Professional Practice in Obstetric Anesthesia: Respectful, Trusting Relationships are Essential for Patient Safety: The Surgeon-Anesthesiologist Dyad."

📅 Event details: https://buff.ly/44JTMsn

Ever wondered why teenagers might report higher pain levels after surgery? 🤔

by Drs. Mihaela Visoiu, Jacques Chelly, and Senthil Sadhasivam sheds light on this intriguing phenomenon, offering valuable insights into how teenage patients, parents, and nurses perceive postoperative pain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38671710/