2025 | Fall IssuePresident's Message Dear Colleagues, Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity– VUCA– have become household terms in academic medicine. What is clear in my opinion is that every institution has experienced VUCA. Additionally, no medical specialty has been spared from the effects of VUCA. This is not a comprehensive essay on VUCA since I am limited by word count, as well as expertise, since I am neither an economist nor an Army general, depending upon who you think coined VUCA first. I can only address what I know, as I serve as president of AUA, and as a lifelong academic learner, Bridging the Gap and Beyond: What's Next in Medical Education As the landscape of medical education continues to evolve, educators and learners are being prompted to rethink how we teach, train, and develop. A series of timely discussions will focus on three key areas shaping the future of clinical education: feedback culture, fellowship pathways, and innovation in simulation. The first in the series is a webinar scheduled for August 13, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST with speakers Dr. Emily Teeter and Dr. Ben Cobb from UNC. Membership Engagement Advisory Board (MEAB Report) The MEAB has been active in discussion regarding ways to retain members and advance the career of associate members. We have compiled a list of lapsed members with an aim to show them what they’ve been missing! We will highlight our annual meeting activities and deliver a personal plug to re-engage. Duty of Care of Anesthesiologists and the Health Care Climate in the US It is imperative for physicians to uphold the highest ethical standards, provide care in emergencies, respect patient autonomy, and not discriminate. They also have a duty to inform patients of services that cannot be provided due to personal beliefs before establishing a patient-physician relationship. This panel discussed the role of ethical care and duties of Anesthesiologists in a morally disruptive healthcare environment. Funding Opportunities get Tighter – What can SAB do to Help? We hope all of you are enjoying summer! In follow-up to our spring newsletter, the SAB team is hard at work planning sessions for the 2026 AUA meeting. Given the changing environment of research funding and NIH’s new review criteria (https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/peer-review/simplifying-review/framework), there is plenty to discuss. The thought right now is to have our panel discussion focus on alternative routes of research funding, including industry, foundations, new opportunities within the federal landscape, and international sources. We are also considering whether a session on the new NIH grant review criteria would be educational to individuals looking to submit grants in the near future. |