C. Ronald Stephen, M.D. Essay Contest

The Anesthesia History Association
announces the
2023 C. Ronald Stephen, M.D. Anesthesia History Essay Contest
with the Raymond C. Roy, M.D. and Cornelia G. Roy Prize

Professor Stephen was one of the great pioneers of anesthesia history. This contest honors his achievements and leadership in research, clinical care, teaching, and the preservation of anesthesia history. The contest is open to medical students and physicians. Entries must be composed during medical school, residency, or fellowship. The winner will receive the Roy Prize ($1000.00). Essays should be less than 2500 words and may be on any topic in anesthesiology, pain medicine, or critical care.

The winning author will be invited to deliver a 30-minute oral presentation about the essay at the spring meeting of the Anesthesia History Association (AHA) held in Oklahoma City, OK in 2023. A panel of experts from the AHA will judge the entries on originality, appropriateness, quality of research, writing style, and bibliography. The winner must submit the essay to the Journal of Anesthesia History (Elsevier). Acceptance is not guaranteed. For formatting and other instructions, please see the AHA website: www.ahahq.org. Entries must be received before 12:00 PM EDT on November 30th, 2022 at Kimberley-Johnson@ouhsc.edu. Receipt will be acknowledged to the sender’s email address.

Alberto J. de Armendi, MD, PhD, MBA and Kaitlyn J. Kulesus, DO
Co-Chairs of the 2023 C. Ronald Stephen Anesthesia History Essay Contest

In 1905 George Santayana famously said, “Those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it.” Beyond this rather narrow motivation, members of the Anesthesia History Association would add that every anesthesiologist has an obligation to understand the history of the progress of anesthesia practice and technology as part of our claim to be “Professionals”.

One of the most accomplished and revered “Professionals” in the history of Anesthesiology was Dr. C. Ronald Stephen. Dr. Stephen’s contributions are too numerous to list here, except to say that he was not only a foremost Clinician, Investigator, and tireless Mentor, but also an early Leader in the effort to preserve and teach the History of Anesthesia.

Thus, after his death, the Anesthesia History Association established the annual C. Ronald Stephen Anesthesia History Essay Contest, which is open to all medical students and physicians who create the essay during medical school, residency, or fellowship. Raymond C. Roy, M.D. and Cornelia G. Roy have provided a prize of $1000.00 for the winner. (The 2022 winner was Elizabeth Zhao, BA, MS from Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC).

The winner will be offered the opportunity to present a condensed version of the winning essay orally at the Spring Meeting of the AHA in Oklahoma City, OK in 2023. Travel funds are not available from AHA; but, registration at the meeting and the annual banquet admission are gratis to the winner and one guest. Please watch oral presentations from prior essay contest winners at the AHA website, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ANohnxgZFrnOK77WftWl0ZVaoyYqGDjd/view.

Entries can be on any topic related to the history of anesthesiology, pain medicine or critical care, and must be less than 2500 words in length. Formatting and submission information can be found below. Entries must be received before 12:00 PM CST on November 30th, 2022 at email address kimberley-johnson@ouhsc.edu.

Winning essays must be submitted to the Journal of Anesthesia History (JAH) and will be considered for, but are not guaranteed publication. Authors of submitted essays which do not win are also encouraged to submit their entries to JAH. JAH is the PubMed indexed, Elsevier published, electronic official journal of the AHA.

Please help us with this extremely useful educational experience by announcing the 2023 C. Ronald Stephen, M.D. Anesthesia History Essay Contest with the Raymond C. Roy, M.D. and Cornelia G. Roy Prize to your medical students, and anesthesiology residents and fellows.

Thank you for all the help you can lend to this annual event!

Sincerely,