It was disheartening to read a recent commentary and opinion in the December 2022 ASA Monitor regarding current expectations of the clinical academic anesthesiologist (ASA Monitor 2022;86:31). The increasing emphasis on clinical productivity and revenue generation is casually dismissed as a necessity with even suggestions of abdication of traditional academic responsibilities. If education and scholarship become secondary objectives to financial considerations, a dangerous precedent is set for the future of our specialty. Economic challenges to academic anesthesiology from hospital partners, inadequate insurer and government payment, uninsured patient burdens, and complex tertiary, expensive care are well known. However, this focus should not be at the expense of teaching and scholarship and is of pressing attention for our thought leaders and professional associations.
Academic anesthesiologists embrace intense clinical work, with faculty frequently working longer hours than trainees, and the constant balance of education with clinical priorities and efficiency in high-risk...
