Cite as: Ip V, Uppal V. ASRA Pain Medicine collaboration expanding up north: working together with the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society Regional and Acute Pain Section. ASRA Pain Medicine News 2024;49. https://doi.org/10.52211/asra020124.006.

It is exciting to have the opportunity for our society, the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society – Regional Anesthesia (CAS-RA) Section, to collaborate with the ASRA Pain Medicine News. Together, we can strengthen growth and development of regional anesthesia as well as broaden the reach of our education materials while embracing the diversity of our practice throughout the world. This is highlighted by the celebration of the first World Day of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine on January 27, 2024, hosted by ESRA, of which CAS-RA was also part.

The Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society (CAS) is the national specialty society for anesthesiology in Canada. CAS was founded in 1943 as a not-for-profit, voluntary organization and is guided by its vision of transformative patient care with its mission to serve members and advance the specialty through leadership, advocacy, education, and research. CAS represents more than 2,500 members, including anesthesiologists, family practice anesthetists, residents, anesthesia assistants, and other health care professionals involved in anesthesia care and delivery in Canada and abroad.

The society has several special interest groups called sections, which are self-formed by CAS members to foster education, development, and community for the various subspecialized fields. The CAS Regional and Acute Pain Section was established in 1993.¹ We focus on recommendations, practices, and innovation in our subspecialized field. We also develop lectures and workshops for the CAS Annual Meeting, which will take place June 7-10, this year, in Victoria, BC. Throughout the rest of the year, we present topical webinars; we were proud to provide a webinar on January 27, 2024, as part of the world  day celebration. As a section, we also contribute to the annual update of the Guidelines to the Practice of Anesthesia.²

CAS is immensely proud of its monthly scientific journal, the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia (CJA). The CJA, established in 1954, has developed and grown in diversity, including articles spanning 50 countries, and works in partnership with the Canadian Critical Care Society. The CJA also publishes special issues that practitioners with or without special subspecialty interests may find informative. The recent special issues include Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Defining and Determining Death in Canada, and Focus on Green, just to name a few. In April, a special issue on Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine is planned for publication. To correspond with the issue, the Regional and Acute Pain section has helped to develop a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) module entitled “Ambulatory Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty: A Literature Review and Perioperative Considerations.” CPD modules allow readers to obtain CME credits by reading the article and answering corresponding questions. Please keep an eye out for the special issue and CPD module in April 2024.

References

1. Regional and Acute Pain. Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society. https://www.cas.ca/en/about-cas/sections/regional-and-acute-pain. Published n.d. Accessed on January 5, 2024.
2. Dobson G, Chau A, Denomme J et al. Guidelines to the practice of anesthesia: Revised Edition 2023. Can J Anesth 2023;69(1):24-61.