Annual Meeting Reviews
Session III: SPA Myron Yaster Lifetime Achievement Award
Submitted by Zulfiqar Ahmed, MD, FAAP
Director of Pediatric Anesthesia and CME Anesthesia Associates of Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
This year's Myron Yaster Life Time Achievement Award was presented to Aubrey Maze, MD, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Valley Anesthesia in Phoenix, AZ.
The ceremony started with Dr. Mervyn Maze, brother of Dr. Aubrey Maze, recounting their early life together in South Africa. He recounted Aubrey’s accomplishments as a champion swimmer, army service man and their time together in medical school. An important point he mentioned was Aubrey’s early efforts to bridge racial divides he encountered at that time in apartheid South Africa. This included leading the establishment of a health care organization (www.shawco.org) led and staffed by medical students that provided free medical care to underserved populations in Cape Town.
Aubrey’s medical career started in 1972 in South Africa before he moved to Stanford University and then to Phoenix, AZ where he started Valley Anesthesia. Dr. Jeff Morray talked about joining Aubrey and Dr. Dean Smith in Phoenix and how the practice flourished under Aubrey’s leadership to its current membership of 240 plus anesthesiologists.
Aubrey’s early efforts were instrumental in establishing and promoting the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) as a broad based and inclusive organization. He also participated in the governance structures of SPA with enthusiasm and tremendous energy. Aubrey always advocates empathy, a patient first attitude, and a special emphasis on altruism.
The ceremony ended with a few words from Aubrey who thanked the audience, SPA leadership and especially his large family who were in attendance at the ceremony. Aubrey dedicated his award to his parents who were immigrants to South Africa; his father from Lithuania and his mother from Poland. He advised the next generation to work hard, get ahead and stay involved in their communities. He encouraged those present to not make the error of accepting quality of time spent with family at the expense of quantity of time. To conclude, Aubrey quoted Victor Franko's words. "Don’t aim for success. The more you aim at it, the more you miss it."
