Since its introduction in 2015, the ASA Charitable Foundation (ASACF) Global Scholars Program has become a treasured part of the ANESTHESIOLOGY® annual meeting. To date, over 30 leaders from low- and lower-middle income countries have participated in the program, providing a precious opportunity for anesthesiologists who practice in professional isolation to access the ANESTHESIOLOGY subspecialty meetings and observerships, where they learn about state-of-the-art anesthesia practice. Many past global scholars have achieved leadership positions in their hospitals or launched improvement programs with the advice and guidance of the ASA contacts they made.
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the surrounding uncertainty and risk of overseas travel, the Global Scholars Program was put on hold in 2020. The ASACF, in partnership with the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA), modified the program for 2021 to allow for virtual participation in the SPA and ANESTHESIOLOGY meetings for 12 scholars. In addition, the selected scholars...
