Directors-Elect Officially Join ABA Board
The American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) is pleased to announce that Christian Diez, MD, MBA, Jill Eckert, DO and Stephanie B. Jones, MD have officially begun their terms as physician directors. We look forward to seeing the impact all three make on advancing the highest standards of the practice of anesthesiology.
Dr. Christian Diez is vice chair for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Anesthesiology and associate professor of clinical anesthesiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He obtained his bachelor’s, medical and master’s in business administration degrees from the University of Miami. He completed his anesthesiology residency at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. Dr. Diez is an associate examiner for the ABA and serves as a committee chair for the American Society of Anesthesiologists. He specializes in trauma anesthesiology, in which he has assisted overseas, and was selected by the Department of Health and Human Services to serve on its Multi-Specialty Enhancement Team. In addition, he is past president of the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists.
Dr. Jill Eckert is an associate professor of Anesthesiology, vice-chair for Residency and Education and interim chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. She also serves as the program director of the Residency Program. She received her medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed her anesthesiology residency and fellowship in chronic pain management at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. Dr. Eckert specializes in Pain Management. During her esteemed 22-year career, Dr. Eckert’s research has been published and cited numerous times across multiple scholarly journals, books and manuscripts. Dr. Eckert is an oral board examiner and author for the ABA and serves as a pain medicine examination question author and committee member.
Dr. Stephanie B. Jones serves as chair for the department of anesthesiology and professor of anesthesiology at Albany Medical College. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Cornell University and earned her medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She completed her anesthesiology residency and served as chief resident at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Since 2011, Dr. Jones has been an examiner as well as a member of the OSCE Committee for the APPLIED Exam administered by the ABA. Most recently, she has served as a committee chair for the American Society of Anesthesiologists and as president of the Society for Education in Anesthesia. In addition, she is the editor-in-chief for UpToDate Anesthesiology and co-editor of the 8th edition of Stoelting’s Anesthesia and Co-Existing Disease.
We also would like to sincerely thank David O. Warner, MD and Santhanam Suresh, MD, MBA, FAAP, for their service on the board. We are grateful for their dedication to our mission for the duration of their tenure on the board, which concluded following the Fall 2022 board meeting on Oct. 2.
The thirteenth and final board member will be elected at the Winter 2022 meeting, held in Jan. 2023.