We read the December “Administrative Update” titled “Walking the Line”1 with great interest, as we share many if not all of the frustrations, arbitrary constraints and limitations imposed on academic anesthesiologists by their state or public institutions. As succinctly summarized by Dr. Harter, we are instructed to educate, inform and train the next generation of physician anesthesiologists in numerous mandates from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s (ACGME’s) requirements for anesthesiology residency programs.2 This is in agreement with a recent plea from Canadian colleagues for mandatory training in advocacy in Canadian medical school curricula in didactic teaching and development of new competencies,3 which we endorsed in supportive correspondence.4
Given the current status of the limitations, perhaps it is time for our governing specialty society, ASA, to take the lead on the necessary requirement and/or implementation of non-partisan regulatory, legislative and professional advocacy for our academic...
