by SAMIR KENDALE, M.D.
There has been a lot going on behind the scenes at the NYSSA in support of our state’s anesthesiologists. One particularly the Ad Hoc Committee on Women Physicians. In the Fall 2017 issue of Sphere, there is a brief description of the committee’s origins and the benefits that this group hopes to provide to the women physicians in the state. Women in our profession have unique needs; hopefully the NYSSA’s women members, especially those beginning their careers, will benefit from the mentorship opportunities and PGA sessions that will address these needs. In a continuation of the wellness theme that we highlighted in the winter 2017 issue of Sphere, Drs. Melinda Aquino and Sergey Pisklakov address the topic of bullying. As anesthesiologists we have all been in tense situations: the unanticipated difficult airway, the sudden surgical bleeding, and the obstetric hemorrhage, to name just a few. Everyone handles these circumstances differently. And everyone likely has had a disagreement with a colleague, sometimes even in the midst of these tense situations. There is an appropriate time to be demanding for the sake of patient safety, but there really is no excuse for bullying or threatening behavior. While aggressive behavior in the healthcare field may seem like a remnant of days past, we newer physicians have heard our share of stories about hurled instruments, berated nurses, and medical students whose hands were slapped. It seems like a natural byproduct of high-risk situations and type A personalities, and of long hours coupled with short fuses; ultimately, however, the hostile environment that results from disruptive behavior is likely to make things worse for the patient. There will always be challenging people with whom we are forced to interact. We all need to feel empowered enough to speak up when something around us is amiss, and to take the high road when placed in a compromising situation. Having open communication with our work colleagues goes a long way toward maintaining a positive work environment. Finally, speaking of communication, we are very happy to announce the launch of this Sphere website. The site is viewable via both desktop and mobile devices. We will be publishing some of our more popular articles on here, and encourage all of our readers to link to your favorite articles on social media by using the links at the bottom of each article. For example, if you want to share with family members and friends the amazing things that New York’s anesthesiologists are doing around the world, tweet the recent feature article about the medical mission in Nigeria. If you are concerned about the well-being of your colleagues in the medical field, share a link on Facebook to one of the wellness articles. Sphere authors devote a great amount of time and energy to writing these excellent articles; it would be terrific to increase the readership of their work!
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September 2019
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