Cite as: Ip V. Editor’s corner: working together for a brighter future. ASRA Pain Medicine News 2023;48. https://doi.org/10.52211/asra080123.003.

In the President’s Message in this edition, Dr. Provenzano raises an important issue about how the structure of healthcare leads to physician burnout, which has been experienced by many physicians across the United States. The same landscape is also observed further north in Canada where there is a shortage of anesthesiologists, and the model of utilizing anesthesia assistants is being explored in many provinces across the country. As our president outlined in his article, collaboration with other medical societies is important for forming a united front to ensure a reduction in physician burnout, proper physician reimbursement, amongst other issues. Thanks to Dr. Provenzano’s initiative, ASRA Pain Medicine has two seats in the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates to ensure our members’ voices are heard.

It is that time of the year when Dr. Alexios Carayannopoulos and his team are busy preparing for the ASRA Pain Medicine fall meeting in New Orleans. He has given us a flavor of the meeting, so please register early, submit your abstract, and take advantage of the early bird registration rate, which ends on September 28. I always enjoy the ASRA Pain Medicine meeting as it not only creates a great atmosphere for catching up with friends from all over the world, it also offers so much opportunity to network with like-minded people to exchange ideas and collaborate, as well as the potential for finding mentors and developing mentor/mentee relationships.

We all know that having mentors is valuable for guidance and help in shaping career paths. In this issue of the ASRA Pain Medicine newsletter, there is an article on mentorship where a medical student shares her experience with mentors who helped her to develop professionally. There is also an infographic accompanying the article, so check that out. I would also like to remind you of the ASRA Pain Medicine mentor match program initiated by the Physician Mentorship and Leadership SIG. It is an online networking and career development tool designed for all ASRA Pain Medicine members.

Along the lines of mentorship and education, competency assessment is essential for ensuring the quality and standard of care remain the highest amongst our next generation; however, it can be a challenging task within our subspecialty. An article in this edition explores this topic and several tools being used for competency assessment. Of course, our most popular section, “How I Do It,” in this edition features articles on the PENG block and the occipital nerve stimulator implant. There are also articles on buprenorphine from our chronic pain colleagues. Our POCUS Spotlight in this issue is on VEXUS. To find out more, read on! As always, please email me at ASRAeditor@asra.com with your ideas and comments.