Vital Times 2022 - 4

WORD FROM THE EDITOR
Word from the Editor 2022
Rita Agarwal, MD, FAAP, FASA
" Keep your face always toward the sunshine,
and shadows will fall behind you. "
- Walt Whitman
A
s 2022 started some
of us thought we had
finally overcome COVID;
the pandemic is over;
people were vaccinated,
children as young as six
months were getting
immunized; schools were
opening; people were meeting in person; and there are
more effective treatments. Then came Delta, Omicron
and more subvariants; many of us got COVID ourselves
and while we felt awful for a week a two, we got
through it. A semblance of pre-pandemic life seemed
to be returning.
However, at the end of 2022, the triple-demic of
COVID, RSV and influenza has hit, and for those of us
who work at children's hospitals, we are facing the
challenges that many of you encountered at the start
of the pandemic: full hospitals, seriously ill children
and overwhelmed ICUs. But despite these challenges,
the CSA has kept moving forward and advocating
for members, patients, and society. This year has
been incredibly productive for the Society, and I am
proud and humbled to work alongside such great and
inspiring leaders. I am also delighted to be asked to be
the editor for Vital Times again.
CSA President Edward Mariano MD, MAS, FASA, has
summarized many of the CSA's efforts on behalf of
its members and patients in his President's report.
Paul Yost, MD, FASA, CSA's delegate to the ASA has
reviewed the many activities of the ASA including
several that featured or were contributed to by
4 | CSA Vital Times
Californian anesthesiologists. One of my favorite
parts of the House of Delegates at the ASA Annual
Meeting was the public recognition of CSA's work with
Project Lead the Way (PLTW), as well as observing
the management of some controversial resolutions at
the House of Delegates. John Hsieh, MD, FASA, CSA
Treasurer, has clearly laid out the CSA's current and
finances and budget for 2023. While we know there
will continue to be difficulties and challenges with the
on-going pandemics, the CSA, thanks to its leaders, is
well-positioned to weather the storm.
Last year the CSA took the bold and ambitious move to
start addressing truth in advertising regarding words
people use to describe their roles and function in
healthcare, such as non-physicians calling themselves
" Doctor " in the clinical setting and intentionally or
unintentionally misleading patients. This was a
multipronged campaign that involved advertising
on social media and other media outlets, as well
as exploring legislation to support the role of the
physician anesthesiologist and the terminology used
in clinical practice. As a result of the success of the
digital print ads and videos, additional content has
been created and will be strategically disseminated.
The videos can be found on the CSA's YouTube
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CSAHQ.
Thanks to the hard work and persistence of Ludwig Lin,
MD, Ronald George MD, FRCPC, and Katelyn Peyser,
the CSA has its very own podcast series called Vital
Times: The CSA Podcast. Anyone who has ideas for the
series or is interested in helping should get in contact
with Dr. Lin or Dr. George. The series so far has been
https://www.youtube.com/user/CSAHQ
Vital Times 2022

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