January 2010
New Interactive SMART Boards installed at all three London Teaching Hospitals
London, ON

The Department of Anesthesia & Perioperative Medicine at UWO has just installed three new inactive SMART Boards at each of the city hospitals. These units combine the simplicity of a whiteboard and the power of a computer and projector.

SMART Boards have been used in all levels of education for over ten years, and have proven themselves to be beneficial in medical training. We are pround to offer our faculty, fellows, residents and medical students this unique opportunity to learn with the latest technology.

November 14, 2009
Fellows Research Day at Windermere Manor
London, ON

Back (L to R): Tariq Jilani, Osama Alabdulhadi, Samer Al-Ghazaly (2nd place winner), Peter Mack, Marcos Silva, Hesham Youssef, Sean DaSilva.
Front (L to R): Sunisa Prapaitrakool, Debashis Roy (1st place winner)

October 14, 2009
World Anesthesia Day Lecture
University Hospital, LHSC, London, Ontario

The Department celebrated Anesthesia as a Profession and all this profession's accomplishments on October 14th 2009 for as part of our World Anesthesia Day Lecture.

Dr. Jack Kitts MD, MBA, FRCPC
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at The University of Ottawa and President & Chief Executive Officer, The Ottawa Hospital, was invited to present at our Grand Rounds on October 14th. He spoke about the challenges and opportunities that will face anesthesia in Canada in the future, the evolution of human resources, technology and anesthetic techniques in transforming anesthesia from an art to a science and emphasized why anesthesiologists must lead the way in creating the future.

Click here to read the poster in the above photo.

September, 2009
International Award Awarded to Dr. Davy Cheng
Shanghai, China

Dr. Davy Cheng (Professor & Chair/Chief, Department of Anesthesia & Perioperative Medicine, UWO) was recently honored by the Chinese Society of Anesthesiology by being presented with "The Outstanding Contribution Award for Chinese Anesthesiology" in Sept 2009 at the 30th Anniversary meeting of the Chinese Society of Anesthesiology & Chinese Medical Association. This award recognizes Dr. Cheng's outstanding contribution to the development of Anesthesiology in China from Canada.

Amongst those honored with such Awards are (photo): Dr. Rick Wu (Taiwan), Dr. Ron Miller (UCSF), Dr. Alex Evers (Washington U), Dr. Adrian Gelb (UCSF and formerly from UWO), Dr. Davy Cheng (UWO, Canada), Dr. Mervyn Maze (UK).

September 19, 2009
Southwestern Ontario Anesthesia Meeting, Airway Workshop
London Health Sciences Centre, University Hospital/CSTAR
London, Ontario

On Saturday, September 19th, the Southwestern Ontario Anesthesia Meeting, Airway Workshop took place at University Hospital and CSTAR.  This is an annual meeting Organized by the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine.  Dr. Ivan Iglesias is the principle Organizer of the meeting which hosts approximately 100 registrants each year from all over Southwestern Ontario.  This year’s visiting speaker was Dr. David Wong from the University of Toronto who spoke on “Surgical Airway needed!  Are you Ready?”  Also included was a Pro-Con Debate:  “Do We Need More Randomized Trials in Airway Management?”  Debating on this subject were Dr. Tim Turkstra and Dr. Miguel Arango, both Anesthesia consultants at University Hospital.  The afternoon session included Problem Based Learning Discussions:  “Post Carotid Endarterectomy Bleeding” by Dr. Miguel Arango, “Obese Down Syndrome Patient for MRI” by Dr. Tim  Turkstra and “Difficult Extubation” by Dr. Geoff Bellingham. 

The main interests of the meeting are morning and afternoon workshops which include Basic and Advanced Airway Workshops and an Anesthesia Simulator Workshop.  This is an opportunity for participants to gain hands-on experience in the use of numerous intubation instruments including cricothyroidotomy.  The meeting has been well-received over the past six years by Anesthesia and Emergency Medicine residents, fellows and consultants, Respiratory Therapists, and Fanshawe College Respiratory Therapy students. 

Pictured from left to right:  Dr. Ivan Iglesias, Associate Professor in Anesthesia, University of Western Ontario, Dr. David Wong, Associate Professor in Anesthesia, University of Toronto, and Dr. Christopher Harle, Associate Professor of Anesthesia, University of Western Ontario enjoying a few minutes between sessions. 

June 29, 2009
Clinical Teaching Awards

Congratulations to Dr. Ronit Lavi, Dr. Jeff Granton and Dr. Collin Clarke who have competed and received awards at our 2009 Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society Annual Meeting held in Vancouver in June.

Dr. Ronit Lavi was awarded the CAS David S Sheridan Canadian Research Award. The title of her research project is "Sevuflorane Sedation During Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention - A randomized pilot trial."

Dr. Jeff Granton was awarded the John Bradley Young Educator Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to anesthesia medical education as a master clinician, academic clinical scientist and learner-centred teacher.

Dr. Collin Clarke was awarded Second Prize in the Residents' Competition for his presentation entitled " Virtual reality imaging with real-time ultrasound for facet joint injection - proof of concept". Supervisor of this pilot study is Dr. Daniel Bainbridge in collaboration with the Department of Medical Imaging.

June 16, 2009
2009 Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society Awards

Congratulations to the three winners of the Clinical Teaching Awards that were announced at the annual Resident Farewell Dinner on June 16th.

Dr. Bernie Mezon was awarded the Undergraduate Teacher of the Year

Dr. Rosemary Craen was awarded the Fellow Teacher of the Year

Dr. Richard Cherry was awarded the Resident Teacher of the Year

The recipients are all very deserving and well known for outstanding teaching. Thank you to all the members of the department for their contributions to education throughout the year. In particular, those that assisted the PGY-5s in preparation for their exams.

June 12, 2009
Annual McMaster/Western Anesthesia Research Day Awards

On June 12 the annual McMaster/Western Anesthesia Research Day was held in Hamilton Ontario. UWO had a very successful day. We had numerous presentations that were all outstanding and well received. The presentations and abstracts were judged by Dr. Donald Miller, Editor in Chief of the CJA.

Special mention should go to ...
Dr. Collin Clarke won 1st prize for his presentation titled: Virtual Reality Imaging with Real Time Ultrasound for Facet Joint Injection - A Proof of Concept

Dr. Diem Tran won 2nd prize for her presentation titled: Arterial PCO2 Changes During Thoracoscopic Surgery with CO2 Insufflation and One Lung Ventilation

UWO also won the annual Anesthesia Trivia Competition and will be taking the trophy home to London.

May 22, 2009
Dr. Dwight Moulin releases The University of Western Ontario Pain Program Annual Report

Although it is a little late this year, in my view it is an excellent report - we had another great year! The Executive Summary provides an overview and I also have included an In Memoriam to Dr Earl Russell to whom we owe so much. Please let me know if you require one or more hard copies... Dwight Moulin.

2008 Annual Report

April 10, 2009
Dr. Ivan Iglesias has been named Fellow of the American Society for Echocardiography

The Society is an organization of almost 15,000 professionals committed to excellence in cardiovascular ultrasound and its application to patient care through education, advocacy, research, innovation and service to its members and the public.

The Fellow designation recognizes those members who have fulfilled both the training and performance requirements that are necessary for certification through the National Board of Echocardiography. Attainment of this important standard of practice recognizes that Dr. Iglesias is committed to continued excellence in the field of Echocardiography, as it applies to diagnosis and management of cardiovascular conditions.

March 2, 2009
Dr. Steven Dain Receives CSA Award for 15 Years of Leadership Excellence

Dr. Steven Dain, MD, FRCPC, Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Schulich Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario, has been presented with a Member Appreciation Award by Canadian Standard’s Association President Suzanne Kiraly recognizing his 16 years of Leadership Excellence and participation in the development of the Canadian National and International standards for medical equipment and clinical engineering.

Dr Dain is the Chair of The Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee on Anaesthetic Equipment, Respiratory Technology & Critical Care Equipment which oversees the development of Canadian National Standards, some of which are used as requirements for licensing of Medical Equipment for use by Health Canada.

In addition, Dr. Dain is the Chair of the Canadian Advisory Committee (CAC) to ISO’s Anesthetic and Respiratory equipment (CAC/ISO/TC/121) and several subcommittees under the direction of the Standards Council of Canada, representing the Canadian position in international standards work. In this capacity, Dr. Dain is recognized as one of the primary Canadian experts in this area and is active in promoting Canadian interests from a practitioner’s perspective while elevating the quality of Canadian standards in the international arena. Dr. Dain has directly or indirectly contributed to the writing, editing or revising over 144 standards.

Standardization is essential to a vibrant economy supporting the health and well-being of a country’s people, its resources, and its trade relationships. ISO and CSA’s consensus model for standardization relies on national and international expertise from academia, industry, government and the public. The committee members and their sponsoring organizations work to develop standards that meet the needs of Canadians.

Dr. Steven Dain and Canadian Standard’s Association President Suzanne Kiraly

February 18, 2009

Congratulations to Dr. Su Ganapthy who has just been named as one of the 2009 Honourees as YMCA of Western Ontario's "Women of Excellence". This is obviously a well deserved honour for Dr. Ganapathy.

For more information see the webpage:

December 15-17, 2008
Bedside Ultrasound in the ICU
London, Ontario

Dr. Ivan Iglesias of the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, University Hospital organized a “Bedside Ultrasound in the ICU” course which took place on December 15th and 16th in Patio 2 of University Hospital.  Dr. Daniel Bainbridge and Kathy Bilton assisted in organizing the course.  The hands-on course was sponsored by ICCU Imaging and included four practical sessions and class instruction.  Course instruction included “Ultrasonography Basic Principles”, “The Focused Cardiac Ultrasound Study (FOCUS)”, and “General Critical Care Ultrasonography”.  Twenty medical students from The University of Western Ontario graciously volunteered their time as patients for the course. 

Bedside ultrasonography has become an indispensable tool in the management of critically ill patients for the rapid assessment of cardiac function, for placement of central and peripheral venous catheters, and for assessment and safe drainage of pleural and intra-abdominal fluid collections.  The new generation of ultrasound devices is ideally suited for use by the intensivists at the bedside.  The safety and utility of bedside ultrasonography performed by adequately trained intensivists has now been well demonstrated.  Equipping critical care physicians with hand carried ultrasounds and training them to perform point-of-care examinations will potentially translate into improved patient care. 

This successful event was attended by 20 Anesthesia and Intensive Care physicians. 

Dr. Marc St-Amand, Anesthesia consultant, University Hospital enjoys the hands-on session in use of hand carried ultrasound (HCU)

Consultants Dr. John Fuller, St. Joseph’s Health Care and Dr. Wojciech Dobkowski, University Hospital (both of the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at UWO) make use of HCU during hands-on session.

Mr. Yanick Beaulieu, ICCU Imaging, instructs participants on use of HCU

Front: Dr. Chris Brooks, Intensive Care, Fellow and Dr. Ron Butler, Site Chief of Medical Surgical ICU and Director of Cardiac Surgery Recovery Unit.
Background: Dr. Davy Cheng, Chai/Chiefr, Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, University of Western Ontario.

October, 2008
Southwestern Ontario Anesthesia Meeting: Airway Workshop
London Ontario

On Saturday, October 25th the Southwestern Ontario Anesthesia Meeting, Airway Workshop was held at University Hospital and CSTAR. The meeting was attended by approximately 130 consultants, fellows, residents, RRT and RT students from Fanshawe College. This was the 5th Anniversity of the Airway Workshop. The meeting has received positive feedback year after year and this year was no exception. The focus of the meeting is both basic and advanced airway management. We were honored by having three leading researchers in airway management to share with us their expertise by discussing interesting cases from their own experience. These included Dr. Orlando Hung, Nova Scotia, Dr. John Doyle, United States, and Dr. Volker Döerges, Germany. We are grateful to those companies who continue to sponsor the Airway Workshop from year to year and the faculty from London Hospitals who instruct the basic and advanced workshops.

Before the conference begins, sponsors set up display tables.

Steve Julian, Abbott Laboratories, Limited and John Moffatt, Vitaid.

Covidien display table, previously known as Tyco Healthcare.

Steve Englander, RRT, Coordinator and Instructor of the Basic Workshop converses with Kim Gilles, Bristol-Meyers Squibb Canada and Jeff Cain, CAREstream Medical Ltd., Airway Workshop sponsors.

Dr. Fareen Din, one of the Critical Care Fellows at University Hospital and other participants visit sponsor display tables during afternoon coffee break.

Basic Workshop participant tries his hand at the Video Mac.

Organizer Ivan Iglesias, and Presenter Dr. Volker Döerges from Germany.

Dr. Ivan Iglesias, Coordinator and Basic Airway Instructor and Dr. Orlando Hung, Nova Scotia, Presenter and Instructor in the use of the Lighted Stylet enjoy a few minutes between demonstrations.

Dr. Orlando Hung, Nova Scotia, Presenter and Dr. Pod Armstrong both Instructors in the use of the Lighted Stylet.

June, 2008
Dr. Sal Spadafora named Associate Dean, Postgraduate Medical Education

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Sal Spadafora has been appointed as Associate Dean, Postgraduate Medical Education, effective July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011.

Dr. Spadafora has been a member of the faculty at The University of Western Ontario since 1995 in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine and became Associate Professor in 2005. In 2001, he completed a Masters in Health Professional Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Spadafora has held numerous leadership roles which have prepared him for his new position as Associate Dean, including Program Director for Anesthesiology since 2002. He was President of the Clinical Teachers Association from 2007-2008 and has been a member of the Academic Medical Association of South Western Ontario since 2005.

Nationally, Dr. Spadafora participates in numerous Committees, Group and Foundations, including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Accreditation Committee, and Anesthesia Specialty Committee and as the Chair of the Associations of Canadian University Departments of Anesthesia Education Committee and the Chair of the Section on Education in Anesthesia of the Canadian Anesthesiologist Society. In 2006 and 2007, Dr. Spadafora was awarded with the University of Western Ontario’s Student Council Award of Excellence and was honored with the Dean’s Award of Excellence in Education (Postgraduate) in 2007 as well as the Canadian Association of Medical Education Certificate of Merit in 2008. 

Dr. Spadafora brings with him the experience and passion for education that will allow him to lead the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry’s Postgraduate Program to the next level and for the coming years.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Spadafora on his new position as Associate Dean, Postgraduate Medical Education.

Carol P. Herbert, Dean
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry

May, 2008
Dr. John Murkin receives two honours for research excellence

Dr. John Murkin, Professor of Anesthesiology in the Department of Anesthesia & Perioperative Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry has been appointed to the Protocol Review Committee (PRC) of the National Heart and Lung and Blood Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Murkin will serve as a neurocongitive expert, and is the only member of the PRC from outside of the United States.

“I am pleased to be able to provide a Canadian perspective on the proposed cardiac surgical multi-centre trials which will be evaluated,” says Dr. Murkin.

But that wasn’t the only recognition that Dr. Murkin received. He has also been awarded the 2008 Research Recognition Award from the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society.

In a congratulatory letter, Dean Carol Herbert and Victor Han expressed their pride in both of these recognitions as they bring added prestige to Dr. Murkin’s research program, his department and the faculty

February, 2008
Annual Report 2006/2007

The Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine of The University of Western Ontario, London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London is please to announce that our 2006/2007 Annual Report has been published. For the first time, we invite you to view our full annual report online.

December, 2007
Davy C H Cheng, MD MSc FRCPC FCAHS

The Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine of The University of Western Ontario, London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London is please to announce that Dr. Davy Cheng, Department Chair/Chief, is the First Anesthesiologist Elected and Inducted into the Fellowship of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Please view the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society Website for additional details.

December, 2007
Dr. S. Ganapathy Introduces the Sale of a DVD Entitled:
Basics of Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia

Dr. S. Ganapathy has produced an interactive DVD providing demonstrations of a variety of upper limb and lower limb blocks using ultrasound guidance. Actual block procedures are demonstrated and correlated to gross anatomy and ultrasound anatomy.

Click the DVD cover icon for more information.

November 21, 2007
The Aitken Memorial Lecture in Neuroanesthesia
University Hospital, London Ontario

During his 30 years of practice in London, Ron Aitken was highly esteemed as a superb clinician and clinical teacher and as a pioneer of clinical neuroanesthesia. The Aitken Lecture was established to highlight developments in the science and practice of neuroanesthesia.

September 14, 2007 - September 16, 2007
Annual Meeting of the Society for Airway Management (SAM)

Congratulations to Dr. Phil Jones and Dr. Tim Turkstra who won two of three oral presentation awards at The Annual Meeting of the Society for Airway Management (SAM) which was held in Huston, Texas this year.   The airway research group included Drs.: Chris Harle, Kevin Armstrong, Pod Armstrong, Rich Cherry, and Jason Hoogstra.

Dr. Jones presented " Comparison of GlideScope Videolaryngoscopy to Direct Laryngoscope for Nasotracheal Intubation ". Dr. Turkstra presented " A comparison of the GlideScope rigid stylet to the malleable stylet for orotracheal intubation ".   This high calibre research contributes significantly to the airway literature and clinical practice with well designed Randomized Control Trial methodology.

May 23, 2007 - May 24, 2007
Celebrating Innovations in Health Care Expo 2007

Congratulations to Dr. Sugantha Ganapathy, Anesthetist, LHSC and John Syrovy, Physiotherapist, LHSC who, along with a team including members from St. Joseph’s Health Care, London and the Southwest Community Care Access Centre, were one of the 18 finalist in this year’s Celebrating Innovations in Health Care Expo 2007 Awards. The exhibit, ‘No Pain - Lots of Gain’ showcased the Fast Track IFLOW Hip and Knee Arthroplasty initiative. For more information please see the following links:

Expo Information

Ministry Link to Expo Information

May 16, 2007 – May 19, 2007
SOAP 39th Annual Meeting

The past week, the SOAP (Society of Obstetric Anesthesiology & Perinatolgy) annual meeting was held in Banff. Collin Clarke presented a poster & short oral presentation regarding "The Anesthetic Management of a Parturient with Cadasil Syndrome." He placed first in the Resident Competition. Congratulations again, Collin!

Two posters were presented which were co-authored by Ida Bruni "The Anesthetic Management of a Parturient with Carcinoid Disease" & Chris Brooks "The Anesthetic Management of a Parturient with Marfan Syndrome." Both were placed in the category Best Case Reports of the Year. The latter also received special mention re: the importance of a multidisciplinary cooperative approach. Congratulations to Ida & Chris.

Next year's meeting is in Chicago. Please speak with Collin regarding his experience if you're interested in presenting next year (or just want to know what is Cadasil). Don't hesitate to contact me for more details or if you want to discuss anything related to research.

Mark June 15 th 2007 on your calendars for the McMaster-Western Research Day. This will be held in Hamilton this year as McMaster is hosting.

Dr. Indu Singh
isingh@uwo.ca

May 2, 2007
London Hospitals to be Demonstration Sites for New Anesthesia Care Model

St. Joseph's Health Care, London and London Health Sciences Centre will become ACT (anesthesia care team) demonstration sites as part of a new Ministry of Health initiative related to the province's wait time strategy, and aimed at addressing the anesthesia human resource problem in Ontario.

ACT is a model of care whereby specially trained health professionals assist in the provision of anesthesia services under the supervision of an anesthesiologist. At St. Joseph's Hospital, 4.8 FTEs could be in the first stream of training/education for this new role. At London Health Sciences Centre, it means 2.4 FTEs at Victoria Hospital and 2.4 FTEs at University Hospital, for a total of 9.6 FTEs across the two London hospitals. For the purposes of the pilot project, the London hospitals will be pursuing a registered respiratory therapist model while continuing to define future roles.

By participating as ACT demonstration sites, the two hospitals will be able to address one of the barriers to increasing surgical volumes in the five MOH wait time strategy target areas of cataract surgery, hip and knee replacements, MRI and selected cardiac and cancer services.

Funding will be provided on a one-time, project-specific basis to design, implement and evaluate the program.

The ACT demonstration site will: introduce new models of care; evaluate clinical efficiencies in pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative settings; measure the impact new models of care have on patient safety, and assess patient and staff satisfaction with the new models of care.

February 15-19 , 2007
Winter Cardiac Meeting

The Winter Cardiac Team Meeting is a yearly multidisciplinary conference
designed to promote exchange and interaction between anesthesiologists, surgeons, clinical perfusionists and other clinical specialists from across the province and the country. The meeting is focused on issues related to the perioperative management of adult cardiac and vascular surgical patients.

The first meeting was at Niagara on the Lake in 2002 and each year the conference has been held in a different location across the country. The program is designed to encourage interaction and maximize participation of the registrants yet leave time to enjoy the surroundings.  

Dr. John Murkin, along with scientific committee members from UH in the Departments of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Cardiovascular Surgery and Perfusion Services, organize this fully CME and Perfusion accredited event which attracts participants from within their respective departments and from across the country.

On February 15-19, 2007, the Winter Cardiac Team Meeting was held in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec.

This multidisciplinary conference, organized and chaired by Dr. John Murkin, Cardiac Anesthesiology LHSC-UH, was designed to foster exchange and interaction between anesthesiologists, surgeons, clinical perfusionists and other clinical specialists related to the perioperative management of adult and pediatric cardiac and vascular surgical patients.

Dr. Steven Dain, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine LHSC-UH, was the Educational and Media Coordinator for the program. Also participating from the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at UH were scientific committee members, Drs. Dan Bainbridge, Davy Cheng, Wojciech Dobkowski, Ivan Iglesias as well as UH anesthesia colleagues Drs. Fiona Ralley, Chris Harle and Ravi Taneja and Dr. George Nicolaou from VH. Other scientific committee members Dr. Bob Kiaii, Department of Cardiac Surgery UH and Mr. Jim MacDonald, Department of Clinical Perfusion UH, along with perfusionist Chris McKay all took part in this exciting conference.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Neil McKenzie, Department of Cardiac Surgery UH who gave an informative overview of his recent cardiac surgical experience in both India and Saudi Arabia.

This year's meeting was well attended by invited speakers and registrants from Quebec including scientific committee member, Dr. Andre Denault, Department of Anesthesiology, Montreal Heart Institute.

This successful meeting was held in a structured but informal setting designed to maximize participation and facilitate discussion yet leaving ample time to experience great skiing on the hills of Mont-Sainte-Anne.

You're invited to visit our website for details of the upcoming Outcomes 2007: "The Key West Meeting" to be held in Barbados, WI, May 9th - 12th, 2007.

Excerpt from: Corporate Communications and Public Relations, London Health Sciences Centre. The page. April 1 2007;12(6):9. Available here.