SPA Annual Meeting Reviews

Session III: Lifetime Achievement Award -
Myron Yaster, MD

By Elizabeth S. Yun, MD
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine

In an auditorium filled with Hawaiian shirts and leis, Lynne Maxwell, MD (University of Pennsylvania) began this session by reviewing the contributions to research, teaching and the Society of Pediatric Anesthesia by Myron Yaster, MD, Johns Hopkins University. She shared the appreciation from of colleagues, and utilized the acronym MENSCH to capture the many extraordinary qualities of Dr. Yaster:

M: He was a great mentee and he is a great mentor
E: He has great enthusiasm for experimentation in research and clinical practice.  He also has the rare quality of being an entertaining educator
N: He never complains or gives up.  He is the ultimate network builder
S: He is supportive to all people
C: He is creative, an iconoclast
H: He possess humanity, honesty, hospitality and humor

In her first official duty as SPA President, Shobha Malviya, MD (University of Michigan) presented Dr. Yaster with the SPA Lifetime Achievement Award and Dr. Yaster then spoke to the audience.  He took the opportunity to thank his mentors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and at Johns Hopkins.  He thanked his many colleagues, past and present trainees, and the pediatric pain nurses.  And of course he thanked his family for their love and support. 

Dr. Myron Yaster and Dr. Shobha Malviya

At the end of the speech, he invited Dr. Greg Hammer to join him at the podium.  They brought out a neuralyzer from the Men in Black team.  A bright light flashed across the audience, penetrating deep into the memory centers of the brain. Then it faded …and the next session started.