Harry Owusu Dapaah, MD

Clinical Anesthesia Year 1

Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University

Harry takes us inside his experience at SCA 2022 (Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology) which took place in May at Palm Springs, CA.

Sunny Palm Springs, California…..the best place I can think of to have an anesthesia conference. The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) annual meeting was finally here after being virtual since the Covid-19 pandemic. Upon walking into the convention center I was greeted with smiling faces and greetings that made me feel like I was “home.” At the check-in desk I was handed a personalized Society of Cardiac Anesthesiology lanyard with my name/institution and a folder with the events itinerary.

The itinerary included multiple different workshops, poster presentations and discussion rooms. Would I attend the Point-of-care ultrasound workshop, Management of right ventricular (RV) failure in LVAD patients or learn some advanced TEE tips/tricks? I decided to attend the lecture on management of RV failure which was followed by a talk titled “Should cardiac anesthesiologist be the only ones managing patient’s with LVAD’s for non cardiac surgery?” There was so much to do, see and hear. And…..It was only day one!

It was humbling to be in the presence of such brilliant minds. I saw older and more seasoned attending engaging with attending’s fresh out of fellowship. I saw fellows chatting up residents and medical students. It was all so inspiring.

I ran into people that I went to college with whom I didn’t even realize went into anesthesiology. It was exciting to see that even after all these years we ended up on the same path. I made some great connections with the faculty from my home institution that came to the conference too. It was nice to interact with them outside of the hospital setting. I made friends with current cardiac fellows at the end of their training who gave me some much needed insight about the pros and cons about fellowship. 

The food was top notch. The discussions were riveting and endless. It was clear to me that we were all an anesthesia family. It didn’t matter your gender, age, race or level of training. We were all here for one common purpose which was to celebrate cardiac anesthesiology and learn from one another. It was hard to leave but I left better than when I arrived. Until next time SCA…..