It is always interesting and a true pleasure to work within the field of pediatric anesthesiology, arguably the most dynamic subspecialty in American medicine. In May 2008, this author had the privilege of describing in these pages the then-controversial proposal from the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia for subspecialty certification in advanced pediatric anesthesiology. In 2009, the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) and the American Board of Medical Specialties, the ABA parent, approved and began the process for developing this new certification. This new program rolled out in 2012 and is now well under way.
During this time, a new organization – composed of the chiefs of pediatric anesthesia sections in American academic anesthesiology programs along with anesthesiology department chairs of the nation’s freestanding children’s hospitals – began meeting to look for additional ways to move pediatric anesthesiology and our respective academic sections and hospital departments forward. Under the leadership of...
