Anesthesiologists today face an evolving landscape of societal expectations and moral complexities. Navigating these challenges requires a blend of strong communication skills, ethical decision-making, and adaptability to changing societal norms. By maintaining a patient-centered approach and engaging in continuous professional development, anesthesiologists can adeptly manage these societal burdens and moral dilemmas, ultimately enhancing patient care and trust in the specialty.

Together, ASA’s strength in medical education combined with the ABA’s skill at assessment create a powerful combination. ASA brings a wide library of educational opportunities designed to help anesthesiologists stay current, and the ABA contributes a rigorous board-certification process, requiring anesthesiologists to demonstrate knowledge, judgement, and skills. Both organizations lean on data, aiming to tie education to clinical outcomes when possible.

Rare metabolic diseases require special care and management; however, even “normal” patients might have subclinical variations in the function of the respiratory chain enzymes that place them at risk for increased sensitivity to anesthetics. The more we learn about the biochemical effects of the agents we use daily, and about the many genetic polymorphisms that affect cellular energetics, we can expect that we will uncover a multitude of subtleties in the cellular responses to anesthetics that can have sometimes profound effects on their outcomes.

Medical malpractice statistics are sobering. One in three providers will be sued over the course of their career. The annual overall rate of paid malpractice claims among all specialties is 14.1 per 1,000 physician-years. Anesthesiology has become safer over time. Safety systems developed by anesthesiologists and colleagues have reduced the incidence of severe injuries and deaths in the perioperative period. But what can good anesthesiologists do to reduce exposure to medical malpractice claims from growing risks associated with NORA and MAC procedures?