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This report summarises the activities of the Publications Committee since March 2008 and details our strategic direction for the next 3 years.
The Publications committee membership is listed below.
Chairman
Members
- Prof Gustavo Elena (GE) Argentina
- Prof Berend Mets (BM) USA
- Dr Isabeau Walker (IAW) UK
- Dr Abdoul-Fatou Ouro-Bang'na Maman (A-F OBM) Togo
- Dr David Pescod (DP) Australia
Co-opted
- Dr Bruce McCormick - Editor Update in Anaesthesia (BMcC) UK
- Dr Jeanette Thirlwell (JT) Australia
- Dr Jing Zhao China
The role of the Publications Committee is to further the work of the WFSA by providing appropriate educational materials for anaesthetists working without up-to-date published materials. The vision is challenging as clinical conditions vary from one country to the next, anaesthesia providers differ in their educational level, multiple languages, modern texts which are almost exclusively written for advanced practice and books that are expensive and not well distributed.
Update in Anaesthesia is the official CME publication of the WFSA. It is designed for anaesthetists working in resource poor settings and is edited by Dr Bruce McCormick. Following the World Congress, Update in Anaesthesia was relaunched with the aim of becoming citation indexed by 2012. A new cover was designed and the inside restyled. Case reports and short research articles are now accepted. The Publications Committee was formalized as the editorial board.
Each English edition is now translated into Russian, Chinese and Spanish. We are working to achieve French and Portuguese language editions. The Spanish edition is published on the internet, English and Russian editions are in paper format and on the internet. At present the Chinese edition is only in a paper format but we intend to place it on a website during 2009.
The journal is the major expense for the Publications committee as the WFSA pays for publication and postage. However, it is the only CME that many of our readers receive. We have moved printing of the English version to Singapore to reduce costs.
In 2008 two editions have been produced - see www.anaesthesiologists.org The second edition was a 200 page review of Basic Science applicable to anaesthesia. This was a significant undertaking for the editorial team but has received very positive reviews. We were extremely fortunate that the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) funded half the costs of production to assist the work of the WFSA.
In 2009 we intend to produce a standard issue and also a special edition - Emergencies in Anaesthesia.
The archive is stored on the WFSA website, although there are a few issues to resolve, which are discussed below.
WFSA Anaesthesia Tutorial of the Week was started in 2005 as an on-line weekly tutorial with a number of UK based editors. The tutorials provide material for trainees as well as experienced anaesthetists and are particularly of interest for those anaesthetists working in isolation without access to CME, both medical and non-medical. The tutorials vary in complexity and are divided into basic science, general anaesthesia, paediatric, obstetric, regional and intensive care. The Tutorials are designed to encourage reflective learning by including questions and self-assessments. Tutorials are issued once a week and are currently hosted on the WFSA website, and are also sent out weekly to hundreds of anaesthetists by email. The archive on the website has around 130 tutorials at present containing a wide variety of material useful for the full range of clinical conditions. Since the system is based on the Internet, it is low cost and flexible, although limited where the Internet is not available.
Book donation programs continued during 2008-9 to centres in Sub-Saharan Africa, Thailand, Fiji, Pacific Islands, Mongolia and Moldova. We have been working collaboratively with the AAGBI, which has a major book distribution program, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.
In particular Understanding Paediatric Anaesthesia (R Jacob) has been printed in India in both English (1000) and French (2000) and distributed widely by the WFSA. Special thanks go to Isabelle Murat for organising the French distribution.
During 2009 the ASA is planning to fund and distribute a Spanish translation of this book - a fantastic gesture costing around $15k. In addition, the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland are planning to sponsor 1000 copies of the English version for distribution by the WFSA ($6000).
The AAGBI has a major book donation program and has printed and distributed the Oxford Handbook (2,600 copies) and Safe Anaesthesia (1000 copies) in many countries, which is hugely appreciated. Their activities have been around £30k using funds from their Overseas Anaesthesia Fund formed by donations by members.
An Obstetric anaesthesia manual "Anaesthesia for Obstetrics in Developing Countries" is currently being edited by Dr Paul Clyburn in UK and will become available for distribution in 2010. This is a joint venture between the WFSA, AAGBI and Obstetric Anaesthetists Association. The manual will be published by Oxford University Press.
At present book distribution in many countries is hampered by a lack of availability of suitable texts that are ideal for the readers, and also available at a reasonable cost. For this reason the Publications committee have drawn up plans to produce a WFSA manual of anaesthesia.
WFSA Manual of International Anaesthesia. This project will be targeted at anyone starting out in anaesthesia (both medical and non-medical) and will be a very practical description of the basics of anaesthesia practice. It will detail important aspects of anaesthesia unique to resource poor areas such as ketamine and obstetric anaesthesia. As the book is written, expert readers will assess each section for the different parts of the world.
Oxford University Press have offered to produce the manual and we are in negotiation to ensure an appropriate low price. It is estimated that each 400 page manual will cost around £7-8 ($10-12) providing we put in an advanced order for 5000 copies. WFSA will wish to have free use of the text to put on the website, and also the rights to translate the material into the relevant languages. All of this is under discussion.
The advantage of using a major publisher is that the book will also be widely available in bookshops, although will retail at a much higher price (estimated £30 ($50)).
Website. The committee felt that it was essential to improve the functionality of the WFSA website to provide an adequate archiving system for Update and ATOTW. We are prepared to contribute to the costs of this
Future aims. David Pescod is investigating different forms of electronic educational materials and we hope to make progress on these over the next two years.
Thanks.
The Publications Committee would like to thank Ruth for all her support in the office, and also the Treasurer of the WFSA for increasing our budget over the next 3 years. In addition the AAGBI have been very supportive in the production of the special Basic Science edition of Update in Anaesthesia.
Dr Iain Wilson
Chairman WFSA Publications Committee
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