History of the Trainee Network

Foundation of the ESAIC Trainee Network (ESAICTN)

In 2014, the ESAIC By-laws were changed to give all trainees voting rights at the General Assembly and to allow 2 Trainee Representatives to sit on the ESAIC Council with full voting rights to represent all European trainees¹. The initial Trainee Representatives were Diogo Sobreira Fernandes and Michela Rauseo. Based on their efforts, in 2015 the European Society of Anaesthesiology Trainee Committee (ESAICTC) was created with Diogo Sobreira Fernandes as the first chair and Mihai Stefan, Liana Valeanu, Michela Rauseo and Bernardo Matias as members.

On the same year, the ESAIC Trainee Network (ESAICTN) was founded, the first pan-continental Anaesthesiology trainee network, aimed to facilitate communication and exchange of information between European anaesthesiology trainees and the ESAIC Council and Board of Directors.

Becoming an ESAIC Committee

The first initiative of the ESAICTC was to identify the main concerns, goals and expectations of European anaesthesiology trainees through a European wide cross-sectional survey in order to initiate improvement of anaesthesia education by the ESAIC². The results of this project were used to fuel many of the next steps of the ESAICTC, namely the transition from a Subcommittee to an ESAIC official Committee in 2016³.

Another historical achievement during that year was the first-ever Euroanaesthesia Trainees´ Program during Euroanaesthesia 2016 in London, that included a very successful event (Symposium “ESAICTN: Networking with the Experts on Sepsis”), which confirmed that communication works and trainees respond well to being asked what they want and also a specific booth for the ESAICTN (Photo 2)

Euroanaesthesia Trainees’ Programme

After this, annually the ESAICTC organizes the Euroanaesthesia Trainees’ Programme, that includes a specific dedicated scientific program for trainees (with a growing number of sessions, both as symposia or more informal lectures in the ESAICTN booth (Photo 3), and also important events like the National Trainee Representatives meeting (Photo 4) or the highly participated ESAICTN dinner (Photo 5)^4,5.

ESAIC Trainee Social Networks

From the beginning, the Social Networks have been a structural part of the work of the ESAICTN, as tools to reach as many people as possible, and after the original creation of a LinkedIn (2016) and Facebook groups (2017), the ESAICTC has created several additional channels, like a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.

Based on the results of the already mentioned survey to address main expectations of European anaesthesiology trainees², the work of the ESAICTC was organized into 4 main axes, the already mentioned Euroanaesthesia Trainees’ Program and Social Networks, but also Education and European and International Trainee Sections Task Forces. Education was indeed the main concern identified in the survey and this Task Force has tried to address several topics of interest to trainees, namely preparation resources for the European Diploma of Anaesthesiology and Intensive care (EDAIC), together with other ESAIC Committees, like Examinations and Education and Training Committees.

The European and International Trainee Sections Task Force has always been one of the most visible activities of the ESAICTC, as it allows for more regular and close contact with the countries represented in ESAIC Council and National Anaesthesiologists Societies Committee (NASC). Since its creation and in close collaboration with both these structures⁶, the ESAICTC has been able to create a strong network that includes a National Trainee Representative in all 40 European countries represented by ESAIC and an organized National Trainee Section in 17 of them (supported by the creation, in 2018, of the “Manual to support the development of a National Trainees Network”⁷).

Trainee Representatives in ESAIC Committees

The most relevant recent structural modification to the activity of the ESAICTC occurred in 2018, with the vote of confidence from the ESAIC Board, as a 1-year trial period started to evaluate the value of Trainee Representatives in other ESAIC Committees, starting with 5 strategic areas¹¹.

This was a very successful initiative, which led to the approval by the ESAIC Board via Board Meeting (January 2019) for one permanent trainee representative in each committee except in the Examinations, Nominations, and Finance Committees and Trainee Exchange Programme. For this reason, trainees are currently represented in 11 Committees (ATAIC-HVTAP, Communication, Education, eLearning, Gender Equity, Guidelines, NASC, Patient Safety and Quality, Scientific, Simulation and Sustainability), making ESAIC a structure where trainees’ voices mater.

Through all these initiatives the ESAICTC and the ESAICTN have greatly developed since their creation and important projects are previewed for 2020, like the development of 2 surveys, aiming at evaluating trainees’ perceptions of EDAIC preparation resources and simulation training in Europe, and the creation of a new website together with the necessary rebranding of the ESAICTN as of 1 October 2020, the European Society of Anaesthesiology will officially become the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care¹². Through these actions the ESAICTC aims to keep getting closer to European Anaesthesiology trainees, fulfilling the mission of the ESAICTN.

Authors:

Bernardo Matias (Portugal – Past Co-opted member and European and International Trainee Sections Task Force Coordinator and Current Chair of the ESAIC Trainees Committee and Trainee Representative in NASC) (2016-2020)

Diogo Sobreira Fernandes (Portugal – Founder and Past Chair of the ESAIC Trainees Committee, Council Trainee Representative and Trainee Representative in eLearning Committee) (2014-2019)

References:

1. ESAIC Trainee Network: What can the ESAIC do for you? – ESAIC Newsletter Issue 61
2. Sobreira Fernandes et al. / Trends in Anaesthesia and Critical Care 18 (2018) 3-9
3. Trainees Committee Policy (POL_EE_02_TC) – https://www.ESAIChq.org/about/committees/trainees-committee/
4. Euroanaesthesia 2017: The ESAIC Trainee Network(ESAICTN) at Geneva!! – ESAIC Newsletter Issue 73
5. The ESAIC Trainee Network at Euroanaesthesia 2018 –Tradition Continues in Copenhagen – ESAIC Newsletter Issue 75
6. Connecting the dots: ESAIC Trainees Committee and National Trainee Sections – ESAIC Newsletter Issue 69
7. Manual to support the development of a National Trainees Network – http://ESAICTN.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/manuel-ESAICtrainee.pdf
8. ESAIC and ASA Trainees Meet Up – ESAIC Newsletter Issue 63
9. ESAIC Trainees Committee and ASA-Resident Component – The transatlantic connection – ESAIC Newsletter Issue 74
10. The ESAIC Trainee Network across the globe during 2019 – ESAIC Newsletter Issue 80
11. ESAIC Trainees Committee: The role of Trainee Representatives in other ESAIC Committees – ESAIC Newsletter Issue 77
12. https://www.ESAIChq.org/ESAIC-news/ESAIC-will-become-ESAIC/