Leading the Way

“If there is one thing that underlies every type of anesthesia, it’s patient safety. We are the end quality checkpoint for so many processes…we’re singularly responsible for ensuring patient safety within our own practice.”

Meet ABA Director Stacie Deiner, M.D., M.S.

Stacie G. Deiner, M.D., is the LeRoy Garth professor of anesthesiology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and vice chair for research. She studies cognitive recovery in older surgical patients. Read her complete bio here.

Why are you passionate about anesthesiology?

Anesthesiologists have a unique opportunity to meet people at some of the toughest moments in their life and be able to reassure them. We are able to make their procedure a good experience and take their pain and fear away. It is a privilege to be with people during these challenging times.

Who has impacted or influenced you in your career as a board-certified anesthesiologist?

When I think about the people who have been touch points in my career as an anesthesiologist, I think of the women who are my role models and mentors. I grew up never having met a woman physician until I went to college. When I met women who had advanced in their careers, I wanted to hear how they had done it, what they had been thinking, and their challenges. Their existence reminded me that I could do that.

What is the biggest misconception surrounding anesthesiology?

The biggest misconception about anesthesiology is that we go home early or that we aren’t with the patients the whole time they are under anesthesia. Anesthesiology is a specialty that starts even before the surgery. We get to know the patients and their medical history, working to synthesize the social and medical factors in their case.

Prior to surgery, we liaise with different medical specialties and the surgeon to devise a safe and effective plan for their anesthesia and care.

What unique role do anesthesiologists play in encouraging or owning patient safety?

If there is one thing that underlies every type of anesthesia, it’s patient safety. We are the end quality checkpoint for so many processes. Not only do we influence the quality processes and safety of the specialties we interact with, but we’re singularly responsible for ensuring patient safety within our own practice.

How has the field of anesthesiology evolved since you began practicing and what do you think the future of anesthesiology looks like?

When I first became an anesthesiologist, propofol was a new drug, and laryngeal mask airways (LMAs) were new. Now, both are part of the standards of care. I cannot wait to see what becomes an essential part of our standards of care 20 years from now. We can do amazing things with point-of-care ultrasound and point-of-care testing. We have an unbelievable ability to use much safer drugs and much better monitors to really improve patient care.

What value has volunteering for the ABA brought you both personally and professionally?

Volunteering for the ABA has been perhaps the most formative experience of my entire career. I met a few examiners while completing my residency, and they nominated me for an APPLIED examiner position. When I arrived at the ABA, I saw both the warmth of the community and the excellence of my fellow examiners, knowing that was what I wanted to strive for as an ABA volunteer. More than that, it’s been the friendships I have developed. I count friends across the country at so many programs, and it’s been those long-term friendships that have sustained me.

Now, as I advance in my career and become a leader in my own department, knowing what is happening in other leaders’ departments and the challenges they face has been invaluable in contextualizing and strategizing for my own department.

Why did you want to become a member of the ABA Board of Directors?

I wanted to become a member of the ABA Board of Directors because of the impact being an examiner has had on my life and career. The opportunity to be on the Board of Directors represented the ability to take it to the next level, to inform our strategy going forward and get ready for the future.

What ABA project or initiative are you most looking forward to?

I am a researcher and have had the opportunity to be involved with the ABA Research Committee in various roles throughout my time as an ABA volunteer. I see the Research Committee as becoming an essential part of how we can create and develop future assessments. I am passionate about partnering with groups that have performance data to understand how our assessments correlate with how people practice in the operating room.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not practicing anesthesiology?

Outside of practicing anesthesiology, my husband and I play and sing in a bluegrass band together.