Investing in the Future

Kathryn E. McGoldrick, MD, is professor emeritus of anesthesiology at New York Medical College. Throughout her career she has served the specialty in many capacities, including leadership roles for the Connecticut State Society of Anesthesiologists, The Academy of Anesthesiology, the Wood Library Museum, and the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia. Dr. McGoldrick was on the FAER board of directors from 2005 to 2014, and among her many roles as a board member became both co-chair and a member of the FAER Legacy Society in 2011.

Investing in the Future

My entire life has been spent in academic medicine. I selected this path because it offered the opportunity to touch many lives and to shape the future. This choice proved to be extraordinarily rewarding. I have enormously enjoyed the opportunity to advise and mentor residents, to help them see the forest for the trees, and to encourage them to pursue excellence in whatever roles they undertake. Equally gratifying has been the good fortune of witnessing advances in medicine in general, and anesthesiology in particular, that have enabled us to deliver increasingly safe and sophisticated patient care with each passing decade.

Although progress has been impressive, we still have many important yet unanswered questions. What are the effects, if any, of anesthetics on the developing human brain? What consequences, if any, do anesthetic agents have for the aged brain? These are but a few of the many critical issues that must be addressed through research, and what organization is better equipped than FAER to facilitate progress in meaningful areas of research?

It is imperative that anesthesiologists support the future of research and education in anesthesia through FAER. Our specialty and its organizations, such as FAER, have given us precious opportunities to make a difference and to contribute to the welfare of others. One’s life should not be "all take and no give." Giving back is, in my opinion, a fundamental obligation of people who have reaped considerable benefit from all that life has to offer.

Becoming a member of the FAER Legacy Society afforded me a vehicle to return something tangible to a specialty that has given me so much during the past four decades. I wish to encourage other FAER donors to consider including FAER in their estate plans. Many financial instruments are available that benefit not only FAER but also provide a return to the donor as well. Going forward, FAER will be providing education to potential donors about some of these ‘win-win’ arrangements. Stay tuned—and don’t miss your chance to invest in the future.

Kathryn E. McGoldrick, MD