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FOCUS ON ANESTHESIOLOGY
A PUBLICATION OF THE ANESTHESIOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER, LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL, LUTHERAN MEDICAL CENTER & KINGS COUNTY HOSPITAL CENTER
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Dear Colleagues:
Best wishes for a Healthy, Happy 2008!
A good time was had by all at our Annual Holiday Party in December at Prospect Hall. Pictured here: Ms. Margaret Jackson, RN, Assistant
Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer, Ms. Anny Yeung, RN, MPA, CNOR, CNAA - Assistant Vice
President, Hospital Operation & Perioperative Service & Assistant Professor, College of Nursing,
myself, Drs. Lance Wagner, Chair/Lutheran Medical Center and Eli Fried, Anesthesiology
Attending/Long Island College Hospital. (more photos inside).
Congratulations to the following who have recently passed the American Board of
Anesthesiology Oral Boards: Drs. Karl Coloma, Adeline Essien, Mariana Fishman, Bhaskar
Gopalakrishnan, Jonathan Gruneich, Christopher Holst, Scott Horn, Hanzhou Lian, Kinlap Mak,
Namik Oliva , Ross Pavlik, Jacob Rauchwerger, Leonid Reyfman, Myrka Maignan Smith, George
Thomas, David Kurt Van Dam, Ruimin Zhang.
Academic Health Professional Insurance Association
Pictured left to right: Dr. Michael Zenilman, Martin Kern, Esq., Dr. James Cottrell
Academic has been in business for 17 years and was formed in response to a perceived medical
liability crises in the State of NY to provide affordable insurance to SUNY academic faculty.
Academic has been successful in achieving its goals and has remained true to its academic
mission. Academic recently insured the faculty at New York Medical College in Westchester
County.
I am Chairman of the Board at Academic. Dr. Michael Zenilman, Professor & Chair-
Department of Surgery, is a member of the Board and is a member of Academic’s Risk
Management Committee (the committee meets monthly to discuss interesting claims). Martin
Kern, Esq. is the Attorney-in-fact for Academic.
Recently, academic representatives, including myself, participated on the newly formed Governors’ Medical Malpractice Liability Advisory
Task Force. Recommendations should come in early March. This task force was chaired by Eric Dinallo, Insurance Superintendent New York
State and Dr. Richard Daines, New York Commissioner of Health.
Chairman: James E. Cottrell, M.D.
Editor: Anne B. Minaidis
Advisor: Christine Capuano-Waters
Photos: Qianli Hu, Librarian Anesthesiology
Submissions for next newsletter due by
May 16, 2008: anne.minaidis@downstate.edu
Change of Address: ellen.jackson@downstate.edu
VOL. 4 - NO. 1
WINTER 2008

FOCUS ON ANESTHESIOLOGY
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Annual Holiday Party, December – 2007
Grand Prospect Hall, Brooklyn NY

FOCUS ON ANESTHESIOLOGY
Constance H. Hill, M.D.
Perioperative Care, Clerkship
Director, Director of Student Education,
Dept. of Anesthesiology
Associate Dean for Minority Affairs
Since the early 80’s our department has been fortunate to have a
required clerkship in Anesthesia. Initially, our two week clerkship,
Perioperative Care, was included in the Surgery Clerkship. We
have been an independent rotation for the last 6 years. The
students are able to take the clerkship in either their third or
fourth year. The hospitals that are used as sites for the rotation are
SUNY Downstate University Hospital, Kings County Hospital, Long
Island College Hospital, Lutheran Medical Center, Maimonides
Hospital and Staten Island University Hospital. All sites are
reviewed positively on the student clerkship evaluation. For the
2006 –2007 academic year our attendings and residents received
the highest rating for their quality of teaching which includes
modeling of professional behavior, teaching knowledge, skills and
attitudes compared to all of the other clinical clerkships. Interest
in our specialty has remained high among our medical students
over the past four years. This year 22 fourth year SUNY students
Comments from three of our students:
did an elective in general anesthesia or a subspecialty area or Pain
Management. Nineteen of these students are interested in
pursuing a career in Anesthesia. We also had several visiting
students doing an elective rotation. This year Match Day is on
Thursday March 20th. The success of our clerkship can be
attributed to the excellent teaching by our attending faculty and
residents as well as those attendings and residents in our affiliate
hospital sites. Each site has a student liaison who works with the
Director and Clinical Director to make sure all students have an
excellent experience. Drs. Dennis Dimaculangan and Samrat
Worah assist with our orientation. Drs. Jean Charchaflieh, Ira Kass,
Ketan Shevde, Ivan Velickovic and Samrat Worah participate in the
student lecture series and Dr. Cottrell meets with all clerkship
groups. The Department should be proud of our clerkship. I
would like to thank all attendings and residents for making our
clerkship shine!
Asher Emanuel (2008 College of Medicine) “My first exposure to anesthesiology was a two-week required clerkship—my first
clerkship of the year. This gave me an opportunity to learn about a specialty I had very limited knowledge of prior to medical school.
Being my first clerkship I was perhaps hyper-aware of my surroundings—the environment, the work, the people and the gestalt of the
experience. The strong sense of “team” among the residents, fellows and attendings drew me in then and remains meaningful to me
today. The feeling of collegiality went in contrast to my expectation of a strict and oppressive operating room hierarchy. This sense of
partnership is unique to anesthesiology and it is especially precious; we often work in very tight quarters and in surgeries that go from
stable to disastrous just by glancing away from the monitor. During my interviews over these past couple of months I am often asked
what initially drew me to this field, what was that first spark of interest. I always seem to come back to the framework of the team I
was so fortunate to encounter on my first two weeks of third year. I am proud that Downstate requires an Anesthesiology clerkship as
it has created in me a foundation of anesthesiology education and has instilled in me values that I will carry on to residency. I have a
sincere admiration and respect for all those who contribute their time and effort to anesthesia education.”
Stacy Taritatu --- (2008 College of Medicine) “When I began my 2 week clerkship in Anesthesia, I never thought that I would
eventually select it as my specialty choice. As with most students, I was unaware of the role of an anesthesiologist. I quickly learned
that the anesthesiologist not only cares for the surgical patient but also knows how to manage diseases that affect their patients; hence
they are the “Internists in the Operating Room”. Once I decided on Anesthesia as a career, I did two weeks of OB Anesthesia at
University Hospital and two weeks of general anesthesia at Lutheran Medical Center. The intimate size of the OB team and the busy
service allowed me to easily function as a team member. It was during the final two weeks of my elective spent at Lutheran Medical
Center that my decision to go into Anesthesia was solidified! I truly became an integral part of the Anesthesia Care Team”.
Jacqueline Njapa --- (2008 College of Medicine) “As medical students at SUNY Downstate, we are fortunate to have this as a
core rotation during our third year. This provides us with an introductory experience of the specialty, to appreciate and apply our
knowledge from basic sciences to how patients’ cardiopulmonary physiology is affected by the anesthetics and other drugs used during
the peri-operative period. We also learn how patho-physiological aspects of the patient affect the choices of their anesthetic
management during and after surgery. As an active participant I got to appreciate the significant role of the anesthesiologist in making
it possible for patients to undergo surgery and keeping them safe during this period and beyond. Overall it was a great and exciting
learning experience. One that has helped me understand and better appreciate the role of the anesthesiologists both in the OR and
beyond and enabled me to decide on a career choice.”
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FOCUS ON ANESTHESIOLOGY
James Cottrell Delivers 2007 Rovenstine
One highlight of the ASA Annual meeting was the
presentation of the 2007 Rovenstine Lecture by Dr.
James Cottrell, past-president of SNACC and the ASA
and the Editor-in-Chief of our official journal, Journal
of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology. In his lecture, he
highlighted the importance of research and education
in neuroanesthesia. On behalf of the SNACC
membership, the Board of Directors congratulates Dr.
Cottrell on receiving this honor and we are proud to
have one of our OWN be recognized for his
contributions to our specialty.
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Grants/Awards
Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program (ECRIP)
Sponsored by the New York State Department of Health
$31,000,000 in funding from the Professional Education Pool is set aside annually to be distributed to teaching hospitals that achieve graduate medical
education (GME) reform goals. One of the aims is to train physicians and clinical researchers in order to advance research in New York State’s academic health
centers.
The program provides clinical research fellowships with annual stipends of $60,000 each year to MD graduates for two years starting July, 2008. A total
of 57 awards were given to medical centers, one of which was awarded to Drs. Ketan Shevde and Ming Zhang for the project, “Immune Responses Influence
the Degree of Myocardial Reperfusion Injury in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.”
Dr. Wilson Ko, Director of Cardiac Surgery is a co-author of the research project. The study is the first of its kind and will be performed on 50 patients
undergoing cardiac surgery and is expected to take six months to complete.
Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) has selected SUNY Downstate, Department of Anesthesiology as a Host Department
for the 2008 Medical Student Research Fellowship Program. Several Downstate medical students have indicated their interest and intent to apply for this
fellowship program.
Dr. Ira Kass has submitted a grant proposal to the American Heart Association for a grant in aid to support the project entitled “Mechanisms by
which an antiarrhythmic dose of lidocaine protects against ischemic brain damage”.
IRB 101: A Quick Start Guide to Getting Research Approved by the IRB
The Office of Scientific Affairs and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) invite all members of the human subjects research community to
a monthly brown bag lunch seminar.
WHERE: All meetings will be on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, from 12:30 to 1:30, and will be held in the 8th Floor Faculty Lounge, Health
Science Education Building.
Target audience: Particularly those individuals preparing written IRB study documentation (e.g., application, consent forms).
Presenters: The meeting will offer presentations by IRB administrative staff.
Prerequisites: All attendees will be assumed to have completed the CITI Program training in the ethics of research with human subjects and to have reviewed
all the material on the Downstate website IRB page ("Protection of Human Subjects").
Tentative Topics:
Definitions of research and examples of research that falls outside IRB purview.
How to document a study that meets criteria for exemption.
How to document a study that meets criteria for expedited review.
What materials need to be submitted for chart reviews.
The mechanism of full committee review and possible outcomes of this review.
Practical definitions of "risk" and "benefit."
What criteria need to be satisfied to waive subject consent for research.
Different approaches to consent (i.e., verbal vs. written) and when they are applicable.
How HIPAA law relates to documentation for research submitted IRB.
Distinctions between anonymity and confidentiality in data recording and retention.
An item by item review of the "Application for New Study," including common pitfalls in responding to the items.
An item by item review of the Downstate consent form template, including common pitfalls in responding to the items.
How to write optimally effective scientific abstracts.
If time permits, individual investigators/coordinators may use their IRB documentation problems as case studies for the group discussion.
From time to time, when revisions to our IRB policies are under consideration, these seminars may serve as "town meetings" which investigators may attend
to express their views on research ethics topics.
Volume 36, Issue I, Winter 2008 SNACC
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FOCUS ON ANESTHESIOLOGY
5
Honors & Achievements
Rebecca Twersky, M.D., M.P.H.,
Appointed General Chair,
Annual Sessions for the New York State Society
of Anesthesiologists/PGA Annual Meeting 2007-09.
Banu Lokhandwala, M.D.:
Promoted to the level of Clinical Professor
Samrat Worah, M.D.:
Recipient of the “Friends of the OR” Award
at The Annual Peri-Op Nurses Week
Award Ceremony
Congratulations to Marge Auci
on her retirement as the Department’s
Residency Coordinator. Marge joined
Our Department in 1989 and has been
a constant, caring, hard-working employee
whom our trainees could count on not only
for academic advice but personal issues, as well.
(Picture: Graduation 2007)
Jean Charchaflieh, M.D., M.P.H., FCCP:
Elected to the American College
of Chest Physicians as a Fellow
Marina Svyatets, M.D.:
Board Certified in Perioperative
Transesophageal Echocardiography
"May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you."
An Irish Blessing
Welcome New Members of the Department:
Attendings: Drs. Andrea Clarke-Moore, Biswajit Ghosh, Sanaa Jalou, Jason Saporito,
Edwin Tavarez, Ben Toure, Menachem Walfish (Director of Obstetric Anesthesia/LICH)
CRNA’s: Nina Joseph, Stacey Tubridy (Lutheran)
Nurse Practitioner: Nativida Chapman (Lutheran)
Administrative: Margaret McKnight (SUNY), Olivia White (LICH), Natilee McSween (Pain Office)
Residency Coordinator: Denise Foti

FOCUS ON ANESTHESIOLOGY
Focus on the Internet
Lance W. Wagner, M.D.
Chairman, Lutheran Medical Center
In the last issue of this newsletter we discussed the use of Google Scholar. In this article we will take a look at an advanced search function
within Google: filetype. The filetype command will allow you to focus your search on a particular type of document, such as a Word file (.doc), a
spreadsheet (.xls), a PDF (.pdf), or a slideshow (.ppt). This can be very helpful when looking for educational resources, looking for documents such
as policies or forms from other hospitals, looking for brochures, images, etc.
The “filetype” function can be accessed in two ways. The first is to use the “advanced search” link on the Google page. This page affords many
customizations or limitations to be added to your search. Enter your search terms and then simply go to the File Format line, highlight “Only”, select
the file type you’d like to limit your search to, and click search.
The other way to focus a search on a selected file format is to type your search terms on the search line of the standard Google homepage (or
on the Scholar page) and follow this with “filetype:xyz” where xyz is the three letter file of the type of document that you want to isolate your
search to. For example, to find hospital forms for moderate sedation I might type “hospital policy moderate sedation filetype:pdf” into the search
line. Try it yourself!
CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED TO DATE (JANUARY, 2008)
The Joseph P. Giffin, M.D. Scholarship Fund
Scholars (contribution $250-$499):
Audree Bendo
Alan E. Curle & Andrew S. London
Jean Charchaflieh
Christophe K. DeBrady
Constance Hill
Joyce Holder
Marie Jeannot
Ira Kass
Myung S. Lee
Christoph Stein
Ivan E. Montalvo
The Gerald L. Wolf, M.D. Scholarship Fund
Scholars (contribution $250-$499):
Audree Bendo
Jean Charchaflieh
Christophe K. DeBrady
Constance Hill
Marie Jeannot
Ira Kass
Malinda Jane Keith
Ivan E. Montalvo
Judith R. & Stuart I. Parker
Michael R. Rosen & Tove S. Rosen
Alan R. Schneider
Rheana Shakur
Christoph Stein
Serge St. Gerard
T. K. Venugopal
Ralph Wolf
Alan Schneider
Rheana Shakur
Bob & Mary Giffin Twigg & Family & Susan,
Bob, Nancy & Bill & Sally Giffin Wilson,
T. K. Venugopal
Friends (contribution $500-$1999):
Dr. & Mrs. Elie Fried
Paul Barash
Matjasko-Chiu Foundation, Inc.
James E. Cottrell & Joseph F. Lovett
Babatunji O. Omotoso
Michael Schaffer
University at Buffalo Anesthesiology
Friends (contribution $500-$1999):
Audrey L. Wolf
Marc F. Wolf
Amy D. Wolf & Kevin J. Coakley
Paul Barash
Donald C. Brody
John & Luceil Carroll
James E. Cottrell & Joseph Lovett
Dr. & Mrs. Elie Fried
James & Marie Karanfilian
Ruth & Peter Laibson
Babatunji O. Omotoso
Ralph N. Wharton
Matjasko-Chiu Foundation, Inc.
Founders (contribution $2,000 and above):
Denise Rubino
Other Donations:
Stan Addison, D. I. Atkinson, Margaret A. Auci,
A. Elisabeth Abramowicz, Erwin & Arlene Lear,
Renee Bedor, Rich Beers, Robert Herzlich, Peter
Kane, Charles Otto, Banu Lokhandwala, Anne &
Bill Minaidis, Marilyn Resurreccion, Hardeep &
Jayati Singh, Eric Ho, Merel Harmel, Khosrow
Mojdehi & Mina Markazi, Elayne Mc Kenna,
Martin Kern, Matthias Lehmann, Paul
Willoughby
Founders (contribution $2,000 and above):
Anita F. Kaufman
Ronald L. Katz & Family
Nina Zipser & David I. Laibson
The Naida S. Wharton Foundation
Other donations: A. Elisabeth Abramowicz, D.
I. Atkinson, Margaret Auci, Dispute Resolution-
Fordham Law School (Stephen Gable), Robert
& Eileen Garber, Merel Harmel Robert Herzlich,
Eric Ho, Rolf & Corrine Hoexter, Andrew Karlin,
Peter Kane, Erwin Lear, Renee & Henry Lerner,
Dr. & Mrs. Robert Liebers, Banu Lokhandwala,
Elayne Mc Kenna, Khosrow Mojdehi & Mina
Markazi, Marilyn Resurreccion, Paul H.
Willoughby, Ellis & Debra Wolf, Junice Panick
SEND CONTRIBUTIONS TO:
RESIDENTS & FELLOWS ALUMNI SOCIETY FUND, INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT & PHILANTHROPY,
ATTENTION: INGRID DILDY, SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER, 450 CLARKSON AVENUE, BOX 93, BROOKLYN, NY 11203….
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: HSCB FOUNDATION AND INDICATE FUND