Latest news with #USAP
Express Tribune
13-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
All CAA aviation security officers gain international certification
Listen to article The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced on Tuesday that all officers in its Directorate of Aviation Security have been internationally certified as Aviation Security Inspectors, following a UK-sponsored training program delivered by instructors accredited by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The certification, facilitated by the UK Department for Transport (DfT), marks a significant milestone in aligning Pakistan's aviation security protocols with global standards. The move is expected to enhance regulatory oversight, strengthen compliance, and boost Pakistan's rating under ICAO's global audit framework. 'This training will play a pivotal role in enhancing the capabilities of our national aviation security inspectors and help increase compliance with international standards,' the CAA said in an official statement. Conducted in Pakistan, the training program was led by ICAO-qualified UK instructors and formally designates all CAA officers in the security directorate as certified inspectors. This accreditation empowers them to carry out safety and compliance assessments according to ICAO's Universal Security Audit Program (USAP), which evaluates how effectively member states implement international aviation security oversight systems. Pakistan has previously achieved a high ranking in South Asia under ICAO's Effective Implementation Rating, a global benchmark measuring adherence to international aviation safety and security standards. Additionally, the CAA said it is expanding its inspector training programs through international academic placements. Two officers have been selected for fully funded postgraduate studies in France and South Korea, through coordination with the respective civil aviation authorities of both countries.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Anesthesiology—Often Invisible, It Is Now More Attractive Than Ever for Those Considering a Career in Medicine
By Exec Edge Editorial Staff In the ever-evolving healthcare landscape, choosing a specialty is a pivotal decision for medical students and aspiring healthcare professionals. Anesthesiology stands out as a compelling option for several reasons. It offers a rewarding career with many specialties in a branch of medicine that faces a nationwide shortfall of practitioners. The U.S. is grappling with a significant shortage of anesthesia clinicians, a situation that is projected to worsen. The American Society of Anesthesiologists has reported that the percentage of facilities experiencing anesthesia staffing shortages has surged from 35 percent in early 2020 to 78 percent in late 2022. This is caused by an aging workforce, increased demand for surgical procedures and a limited number of existing practitioners. By 2036, the U.S. could face a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians, with anesthesiologists comprising a substantial portion of that deficit. This means that for medical school and nursing graduates, as well as others considering healthcare as a field, anesthesiology offers an attractive career path and one that provides stability and growth opportunities. Anesthesia clinicians include anesthesiologists, certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA) and certified anesthesiologist assistants (CAA). They can tailor their careers to their interests and expertise. The specialty of anesthesia has a wide range of sub-specialties—specific areas of anesthesia requiring added expertise. These include cardiology, oncology, pediatrics, pain management, obstetrics and more. This range provides anesthesiologists with intellectually stimulating and professionally fulfilling work. It means that for medical students and healthcare professionals seeking a challenging and rewarding career, anesthesiology is an ideal choice. Anesthesia clinicians are in high demand across the United States. Whether in urban centers or rural communities, anesthesiologists, CRNAs and CAAs can find employment opportunities that align with their lifestyle preferences. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for those who wish to balance their professional and personal lives. Anesthesiologists and other anesthesia clinicians can work in hospital operating rooms, outpatient surgery facilities, academic medical centers and the military. This versatility allows professionals to select environments that best suit their career goals and lifestyle preferences. For those considering a career in anesthesiology, U.S. Anesthesia Partners (USAP) offers a compelling model of clinician-led practices with local governance and a positive culture. USAP is a physician-owned and physician-led organization, ensuring that clinical decisions are made by those who understand the intricacies of patient care. Each practice within USAP operates with its own local governance, allowing for autonomy and tailored approaches to healthcare delivery. For clinicians just entering the field of anesthesiology, USAP offers an array of practice models and facilities, ensuring a wide variety of geographic locations and scheduling choices that align with your lifestyle needs. USAP helps develop its clinicians throughout their careers and is committed to creating a positive work culture that prioritizes the well-being of its clinicians. Initiatives such as culture committees, Clinical Operations Committee and a National Care Team Advisory Council ensure decisions are clinician-centric and enable the best in patient care. An annual USAP Leadership conference and robust clinical and business curriculum foster an environment of continuous learning and allow clinicians to develop and further their skillsets and careers at their own pace. The result of clinician autonomy and career-long professional development is increased patient satisfaction, a fact validated by company surveys. Patients have strong positive experiences with USAP's clinicians (over 96 percent rating their anesthesia experience as 'good' or 'great,' well above national benchmarks). Anesthesiology offers a unique and rewarding career path for medical students, nurses and other aspiring healthcare professionals. With diverse specializations, geographic flexibility, and varied work settings, the field presents numerous advantages. Organizations such as U.S. Anesthesia Partners exemplify the benefits of clinician-led practices with local governance and a positive work culture. For those seeking a challenging and impactful career in healthcare, anesthesiology is an attractive choice that promises both professional fulfillment and personal growth. Contact: Exec Edge Editor@
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Antarctic Research Stations in Chaos
Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency has been rampaging through the US federal government at an alarming pace, leaving seemingly no stone unturned. As Wired reports, even scientists at the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), which operates three permanent stations on the southernmost continent, are feeling the hurt. Over a thousand people visit these stations each year, conducting important scientific experiments, from studying climate change to peering into the earliest days of the universe with the help of the South Pole Telescope. Scientists are now worried that the funding for their research could soon be cut off. Managers who were in charge of Antarctic projects at the National Science Foundation, which manages the USAP, were fired last week as part of a much broader culling by Musk's DOGE. These managers serve a crucial role in keeping track of the projects' budgets, while ensuring that funding allows scientists to keep their work going. "Without them, everything stops," one affected scientist told Wired. "I have no idea who I am supposed to report to now or what happens to submitted proposals." The National Science Foundation as a whole is facing an up to 50 percent staff reduction, a massive hit to the country's reputation as a place to conduct scientific research. Worse yet, experts are concerned that other powerful nations, most notably Russia and China, could soon take advantage of the power vacuum and exert their influence, including in places like Antarctica. "Presumably it would be humiliating for anyone who wishes to promote 'America First' to witness China offer to take over the occupation and management of the base at the heart of Antarctica," Royal Holloway University of London geopolitics professor Klaus Dodds told Wired. "China is a very determined polar power." Besides shifting geopolitics, scientists are worried DOGE's cuts could trigger a brain drain. "Foreign countries are actively recruiting my colleagues, and some have already left," one Antarctic scientist told Wired. "My students are looking at jobs overseas now... people have been coming [to the US] to do science my whole life. Now people are going the other way." More on DOGE: There's Something Very Sketchy Going on With the Government Trying to Buy $400 Million in Armored Teslas
WIRED
27-02-2025
- Science
- WIRED
DOGE's Chaos Reaches Antarctica
Feb 27, 2025 7:00 AM Daily life at US-run Antarctic stations has already been disrupted. Scientists worry that the long-term impacts could upend not only important research but the continent's delicate geopolitics. Photograph:Few agencies have been spared as Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has ripped through the United States federal government. Even in Antarctica, scientists and workers are feeling the impacts—and are terrified for what's to come. The United States Antarctic Program (USAP) operates three permanent stations in Antarctica. These remote stations are difficult to get to and difficult to maintain; scattered across the continent, they are built on volcanic hills, polar plateaus, and icy peninsulas. But to the US, the science has been worth it. At these stations, over a thousand people each year come to the continent to live and work. Scientists operate a number of major research projects, studying everything from climate change and rising sea levels to the cosmological makeup and origins of the universe itself. With funding cuts and layoffs looming, Antarctic scientists and experts don't know if their research will be able to continue, how US stations will be sustained, or what all this might mean for the continent's delicate geopolitics. 'Even brief interruptions will result in people walking away and not coming back,' says Nathan Whitehorn, an associate professor and Antarctic scientist at Michigan State University. 'It could easily take decades to rebuild.' The USAP is managed by the National Science Foundation. Last week, a number of NSF program managers staffed on Antarctic projects were fired as part of a wider purge at the agency. The program managers are critical for maintaining communication with the infrastructure and logistics arm of the NSF, and the contractors for the USAP, as well as planning deployment for scientists to the continent, keeping track of the budgets, and funding the maintenance and operations work. 'I have no idea what we do without them,' says another Antarctic scientist who has spent time on the continent, who along with several others WIRED granted anonymity due to fears of retaliation. 'Without them, everything stops,' says a scientist whose NSF project manager was fired last week. 'I have no idea who I am supposed to report to now or what happens to submitted proposals.' Scientific research happens at all of the stations. At the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, scientists work on the South Pole Telescope and BICEP telescope, both of which study the cosmic background radiation and the evolution of the universe; IceCube, a cubic-kilometer detector designed to study neutrino physics and high energy emission from astrophysical sources; and the Atmospheric Research Observatory that studies climate science and is run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Mass firings are also expected at the NOAA.) 'The climate science [at the South Pole Station] is super unique,' an Antarctic scientist says. 'The site has so little pollution that we call it 'the cleanest air on Earth,' and they have been monitoring the ozone layer and CO 2 content in the atmosphere for many decades.' Other directives from the Donald Trump administration have directly affected daily life on those stations. 'Gender-inclusive terms on housing documents' have been removed from Antarctic staffer forms, a source familiar with the situation at McMurdo Station tells WIRED. 'It asked if you had a preference with which gender you housed with,' the source says. 'That's all been removed.' Staffers have already pushed back. 'People have been painting waste bins saying 'Antarctica is for ALL' in rainbow, people's email signatures [have] pride additions, [others] keep adding preferred pronouns to emails,' the source says. 'There's a sense of unease on the station like people have never felt before,' they add. 'The job still has to get done, even though people feel like the next shoe can drop at any moment.' That unease extends to their own job security. 'There are some people currently at the South Pole that are worried about losing their jobs any day now,' a source with familiarity of the situation tells WIRED. Workers present at the station aren't able to physically leave until October, and a midseason firing, or loss of funding, would present a unique set of challenges. Sources are also bracing for at least a 50 percent reduction in the NSF's budget due to DOGE cuts. These cuts are sending Antarctic scientists with assistants and graduate students scrambling. 'We didn't know if we could pay graduate students,' says one scientist. While research is conducted on the continent, scientists bring their findings back to the US to process and analyze. A lot of the funding also operates the science itself: For one project that requires electricity to run detectors, the scientist 'was paranoid we would not be able to literally pay bills for an experiment starved for data.' That hasn't come to fruition yet, but as funding cycles restart in the coming weeks and months, scientists are on tenterhooks. Sources tell WIRED that Germany, Canada, Spain, and China have already started taking advantage of that uncertainty by recruiting US scientists focused on Antarctica. 'Foreign countries are actively recruiting my colleagues, and some have already left,' says one Antarctic scientist. 'My students are looking at jobs overseas now … people have been coming [to the US] to do science my whole life. Now people are going the other way.' 'Now is a great time to see if anyone wants to jump ship,' another Antarctic scientist says. 'I do worry about a brain drain of tenured academics, or students who are shunted out.' 'The damage caused by gutting the [Antarctic] science budget like this is going to last generations,' says another. Throughout DOGE's cuts to the federal government, representatives have said that if something needs to be brought back, it could be. In some cases, reversals have already happened: The US Department of Agriculture said it accidentally fired staffers working on preventing the spread of bird flu and is trying to rehire them. But in Antarctica, a reversal won't necessarily work. 'One of the really scary things about this is that if the Antarctic program budget is cut, then they'll very quickly get to the point where they can't even keep the station open, much less science projects going,' an Antarctic scientist tells WIRED. 'If the South Pole [station] is shut down, it's basically nearly impossible to bring it back up. Everything will freeze and get buried in snow. And some other country will likely immediately take over. Others share this fear of a station takeover. 'Even if science funding is cut back, there is an urgent need for the US to invest in icebreakers and polar airlift capability otherwise at some point the US-managed South Pole station might not be serviceable,' says Klaus Dodds, an Antarctic expert and professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway University of London. Experts are concerned that countries like Russia and China—who have already been eagle-eyed on continental influence—will quickly jostle to fill the power vacuum. 'Presumably it would be humiliating for anyone who wishes to promote 'America First' to witness China offer to take over the occupation and management of the base at the heart of Antarctica. China is a very determined polar power,' says Dodds. The political outcome of the US pulling back from its Antarctic research and presence could be dire, sources tell WIRED. Antarctica isn't owned by any one country. Instead it's governed by the Antarctic Treaty System, which protects Antarctica and the scientific research taking place on the continent, and forbids mining and nuclear activity. Some countries, including China and Russia, have indicated that they would be interested in rule changes to the Treaty system, particularly around resource extraction and fishing restrictions. The US, traditionally, has played a key role in championing the treaty: 'Many of the leading polar scientists and social scientists are either US citizens and/or have been enriched by contact with US-led programs,' says Dodds. That leadership role could change quickly. The US also participates in a number of international collaborations involving major Antarctic scientific projects. A US pullback, Whitehorn says, 'makes it very hard to regard the US as a reliable partner, so I think there will be a lot less interest in accepting US leadership in such things … The uncertainty will drive people away and sacrifice the leadership the US already has.' 'If the NSF can't function, or we don't fund it, projects with long lead times can just die,' another scientist says. 'I'm sure international partners would be happy to partner elsewhere. This is what it means to lose US competitiveness.'
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Finding the Next Generation of Anesthesiologists
By Exec Edge Editorial Staff Anesthesiologists are in short supply. Health systems around the nation are clamoring to find more of these vital physicians to meet ever-growing demand. The medical world is searching for solutions. Without anesthesia providers, there can be no surgeries. Answers must be found soon or patients will be forced to wait even longer than they do already for necessary surgeries. Experts point to several causes for the current shortage. At the entry level, residency programs in anesthesiology chronically lack funding and fewer and fewer young adults are choosing medicine as a career. At the other end of the pipeline, anesthesiologists are retiring at a rapid pace. So even as demand for surgical services rises by 2 to 3 percent annually due to population growth and an aging population, the number of anesthesiologists is not keeping pace. Medical schools are trying to do what they can. Some are boosting recruiting and educating their students about the specialty and its many advantages, including the benefits that come with rising demand, such as geographical options and compensation. The private sector is also lending a hand. Indeed, a comprehensive set of solutions is being offered by one of the nation's premier anesthesiology practices, U.S. Anesthesia Partners, Inc. (USAP). USAP has taken multifaceted approach to meet this increasing demand for care. It works constantly to attract new talent and to keep the talent it already has through leadership development training and building a unique and supportive culture. One of these efforts is its annual Future Leaders in Anesthesia Conference. The fall meeting gives anesthesia residents and future Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) leadership and non-clinical training that prepares them for careers in anesthesia. The event offers them practical advice about the business of anesthesia and helps them network with people who are pursuing the same goals. Participants report that they get a clearer picture of their potential career paths and a nuts-and-bolts understanding of what it means to be a clinician in the real world. Last year's conference included such topics as responding to a mass casualty event, conflict resolution in an operating room and the importance of mindfulness and mental resilience to prevent burnout (Burnout is a problem for almost all medical providers but it's especially acute among anesthesiologists, whose schedules can vary radically by the day). USAP's efforts have an internal focus as well. Its annual leadership conference provides 300 of its clinician leaders with a platform to share best practices, further their leadership skills and work together to innovatively address current and anticipated challenges and opportunities. This ongoing support helps USAP retain and strengthen its valuable clinical leadership ranks and creates a culture of support for those on the front lines each day providing care. USAP has also found that clinicians working together outside the operating room can have positive benefits for them and their communities. Through its USAP Cares program, USAP physicians and CRNAs choose local charities and volunteer their time and money to provide hands-on help to the organizations that improve the communities where they live and work. The clinicians work together to build by hand items such as wheelchairs, bicycles and beds that they pass along to worthy charities. In addition to ongoing USAP Cares events throughout the year, the company also sets aside one week in September, called USAP Cares Week, as a national week of service. Last year's USAP Cares Week events assisted 23 different charitable organizations and saw more than 375 USAP team members contribute more 1,000 hours of their time. The collective efforts touched the lives of 60,000 people in Texas, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, Maryland and Washington, D.C. These USAP Cares activities help improve the communities where clinicians live and work but also provide an opportunity to strengthen relationships, culture, and morale. USAP also has been helping to create residency programs to increase the number of anesthesiologists. It is now a part of four such programs, with more on the way. Its newest has already attracted more than 1,000 applicants competing for 12-14 slots. Fixing the anesthesiologist shortage should be a high priority. It will take the combined efforts of academia, hospital systems, regulators and anesthesia practices. Forward-thinking practices like USAP and others are tackling this challenge head on. It's a matter of access to care for patients and a matter of overall health for our communities. Contact: Editor@
