Notes from the RSACPCON (Research Society of Anesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology Convention) in Amritsar, Punjab
The Fall elective was purposefully scheduled around India’s RSACPCON – a conference analogous to the PGA in New York (Post-Graduate Assembly in Anesthesiology) - and one of India’s largest national Anesthesiology meetings. In addition to lecturing and leading a workshop on Ultrasound for regional anesthesia, we were able to learn from our Indian colleagues in workshop, lecture, and poster presentation formats.
Here are notes from our residents’ travel journal:
“We attended a nation-wide anesthesiology conference that convened at our home base hospital of SGRD. Dr Ruchi was the primary organizer for the event. The conference consisted of a day of workshops, including an ultrasound session led by our HSS companions Lee Rasamny and Swetha Pakala, followed by a day of lectures, which featured our very own Eric Brumberger and Sheida Tabaie.
We [Shiyin and Jingyi] supervised a hands-on session of ultrasound guided upper extremity blocks, which for many of the participants, was the first time they’d used an ultrasound. Overall, there was a great deal of enthusiasm for the ultrasound based procedures and studies, a tool that has been controversial in India due to the use of sex selection in the prenatal period. We met anesthesiologists from all over India with different backgrounds and practices.
Dr. Brumberger gave a talk on major early killers in trauma touting the benefits of Tranexamic Acid and Dr. Tabaie followed with a talk about fluid and blood management in the same setting. India is severely afflicted with poor traffic control that results in a very high rate of motor vehicle related traumas and deaths; as such, the subjects were very relevant and initiated a collegial discussion.
The conference day concluded with a grand banquet in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Anesthesia research society RSACPCON. The banquet resembled a massive Indian wedding, with live band, endless hors d’oeuvres, rows among rows of food spanning Punjabi, Indian, and international cuisine. A traditional Punjabi dance commenced the celebration. Throughout the night, we hung out with many faculty and residents from the conference, danced to the DJ until the early hours of the morning, and caught just a few hours of zzz’s before heading to countryside for the rural village component of the elective to begin.“
EB