National Anaesthesia Societies Committee (NASC) Report 2008-12

NASC delegates: Hans Kirkegaard (Denmark), Miodrag Milenovic (Serbia),  Azriel Perel (Israel), Ivan Smilov (Bulgaria), Indulis Vanags (Latvia), Michael Wee (UK), Christian Werner (Germany), Roman Zahorec (Slovakia).  

Activities and Budget

The NASC budget mainly, though not exclusively, supports activities in Eastern Europe. The budget is about 100.000 - 120.000, - EURO per annum. In 2009 there were four NASC symposia: (UK, Spain, Denmark and Norway). In 2009 NASC also supported teaching and training projects in both Albania and Moldovia. In 2010 NASC supported activities in Serbia, Romania, Hungary and Estonia whilst in 2011 NASC supported projects in Serbia, Greece, Poland and Russia.

International School for Instructors in Anaesthesiology

A very important and on-going project is the International School for Instructors in Anaesthesiology (The ISIA or teach the teachers project) which is run and financed jointly by the ESA and the WFSA.  Dr Gaby Gurman from Israel has been the driving force behind this project.

There is a very detailed account of this project in the WFSA Education Committee Report. However the following may be of interest to those wishing to apply for this scheme in the future. 

In order to be selected as an ISIA student, a candidate must fulfill the following:

1. He/she must be a specialist in anaesthesiology in their own country,

2. He/she should be less than 36 yrs (but the age of 40 could be accepted as an upper limit in special cases),

3. He/she must have a good command of English, at a level that permits understanding of written texts and an ability to converse and discuss in the language,

4. He/she is under obligation to attend all the classes and must cover their own travel expenses.

The responsibility for student recruitment to ISIA rests with the National Societies of Anaesthesiology. The Societies must organize the selection process and ensure that each proposed participant to the ISIA courses meets the eligibility criteria.

Ultimately a trained student would be encouraged to participate and teach on future ISIA courses.

Details of these courses can be obtained from the NASC chairperson through the ESA secretariat.

ESA: Young Teaching Recognition Award of NASC

The purpose of this award is to discover an individual with outstanding teaching skills.

The award winner is required to give a total of 3 lectures. One lecture must be presented at the annual Euroanaesthesia congress. The other two lectures are given on ESA satellite meetings of national societies. The award winner receives a travel reimbursement for every lecture according to ESA policy. Applicants must not be older than 40 years of age. To qualify, applicants must be member of the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA). Applicants must submit their Curriculum Vitae as well as an outline of their proposed lecture. Each application must be accompanied by a letter from the applicant's Chairman, and a letter of the president of the national society outlining the teaching qualifications of the applicant.  One award is given for applicants from Eastern European countries and one award is given for applicants from Western European countries. Applications have to be submitted to the ESA Office in Brussels

Recognition of NASC as WFSA European Regional Section:

In July 2009 NASC received the information that the WFSA recognised the NASC as the WFSA European Regional Section. The benefits of this recognition are:

• Shared projects between the two organisations
• Better coordination of activities
• Improved co-operation and an expension of activities