Cite as: Machi A. Editor’s corner: welcome, future regionalists and pain medicine colleagues. ASRA Pain Medicine News 2026;51. https://doi.org/10.52211/asra050126.002.

Editor’s Corner

Another chapter turns within our society each spring as committee appointments begin and excitement builds around the annual Spring Meeting. Like a tulip or California poppy, this year’s bloom is no exception: vibrant, beautiful, and full of life. It is especially gratifying to see the engagement of trainees and early-career professionals. From abstract presentations and social media posts to artwork at Pain Illuminated and participation in the Quiz Bowl, opportunities abound at the Spring Meeting. Yet these experiences are only the beginning. There are many ways to engage with ASRA Pain Medicine—with our members, with our online educational content through ASRA Pain Medicine Edge or courses, with our journal Regional Anesthesia Pain Medicine and of course, with our media, including the newsletter. If you are a student or trainee and not yet a member, we warmly encourage you to consider joining. Membership is free for medical students and at a significantly discounted rate for trainees, affiliates, and young professionals (categories and join). While the newsletter is available to all readers, membership opens many more doors. For students, residents, fellows, and early-career physicians, ASRA Pain Medicine can help illuminate their path with mentorship, education, scholarship, and community, and can be the beginning of lifelong engagement within our specialty.

A core part of this community comprises individuals who pursue fellowships in regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine or pain medicine. In recent years, there has been a notable drift of anesthesiology residents away from each path. Drs. Bautista, Nanda, and Le Wendling explore this landscape thoughtfully and powerfully. I disclose my own bias as someone who has completed both of these fellowships. Fellowship training can be transformative and career-altering. While it carries costs in time, finances, and personal sacrifice, the return may be career-defining. It can accelerate lifelong learning and open pathways to expertise, leadership, and impact. From a workforce perspective, there remains a substantial need for fellowship-trained physicians in both regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine and pain medicine. Healthcare economics may evolve, but millions of patients continue to need this specialized care in the United States alone. I encourage you to read our colleagues’ excellent insights.

The May 2026 newsletter has several outstanding features in addition to its core offerings. First, Dr. Patrick Giam, a resident of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), highlights many ways the ASA and ASRA Pain Medicine collaborate on guideline development, education, leadership, and advocacy. Next is an interview with Dr. André Boezaart, recipient of the 2026 Gaston Labat Award, featuring memorable stories from an extraordinary career. The issue also features an ASRA Answers that addresses the complex question of chemotherapy timing around intrathecal pump placement, balancing oncologic outcomes with wound-healing and infection concerns. Drs. Shergill, Ofungwu, and Singh then share the vision of ASRA Pain Medicine to relieve the global burden of pain, one step at a time, through an ASRA Global Health Equity Fellowship experience at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana. Readers will also find an excellent POCUS Spotlight by Drs. Mehra and Dhar with a detailed deep dive into peripherally inserted central catheter line insertion.

This issue’s core articles include:

• How I Do It: Suprazygomatic Maxillary Nerve Block in Pediatrics
• How I Do It: X-Ray Guided Cervical Nerve Root Block via the Posterolateral Oblique Approach
• The Consent Conundrum in Regional Anesthesia
• How I Do It: Trauma-Informed Care for the Interventional Pain Patient
• Decoding Epidural Maintenance Regimens: Volume, Rate and Timing for Optimal Labor Analgesia
• Management of Inadvertent Intradiscal Access During Fluoroscopic Guided Epidural Spinal Procedures and the Role of Antibiotic Therapy
• The issue concludes with a personal poem from an anesthesia resident, Dr. Thomas Oh, offering a moving window into chronic pain and anesthesiology from the perspective of both patient and physician, followed by the literature review.

Finally, a warm thank you to our readers, authors, newsletter team members, editors, ASRA Pain Medicine staff, and volunteers who make each edition possible. Your contributions advance our shared mission to improve care and expand knowledge in regional anesthesia and pain medicine.

With this Editor’s Corner, I pass the torch to Dr. Marcelle Blessing, who now steps into the role of editor and vice chair for the Newsletter Committee, while I take on the role of editor-in-chief and chair from Dr. Vivian Ip. Under Dr. Ip’s leadership over the past decade, the newsletter has grown, evolved, and flourished. I remain deeply grateful for her leadership, mentorship, and friendship.

We welcome your feedback and ideas at [email protected].