Newswise — The International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) announces today that its moderated wiki site for anesthesia residents, OpenAnesthesia, has registered more than 1,000 members since its launch in July 2009. Dr. Edward Nemergut, Associate Professor at the University of Virginia’s Department of Anesthesiology, the moderator of OpenAnesthesia, disclosed that more 2,000 pages have been edited by members of the website. OpenAnesthesia members can add and edit content on the site, as well as interact with anesthesiology specialists and medical residents worldwide.

The IARS, in conjunction with its official journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, sponsored the first online multimodal toolkit specifically designed to advance graduate medical education in anesthesia. Since the launch of OpenAnesthesia, traffic to the site has grown to 25,000 page views per month. The most popular features of the site include the podcasts and interviews with leading academics, clinicians and researchers in the anesthesia community.

In addition to nurturing residents’ appreciation of the primary literature and fostering collaboration, OpenAnesthesia (www.openanesthesia.org provides Program Directors with a tool to document core competency activities for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) mandated learning portfolios. The goal of OpenAnesthesia.org is identical to that of Anesthesia & Analgesia and the IARS itself, to improve resident education and, ultimately, patient care.

About the IARS

The International Anesthesia Research Society is a nonpolitical, not-for-profit medical society founded in 1925 to advance and support scientific research and education related to anesthesia, and to improve patient care through basic research. The IARS contributes nearly $1 million annually to fund anesthesia research; provides a forum for anesthesiology leaders to share information and ideas; maintains a worldwide membership of more 15,000 physicians, physician residents, and others with doctoral degrees, as well as health professionals in anesthesia-related practice; sponsors the SAFEKIDS initiative in partnership with the FDA; and publishes the monthly Anesthesia & Analgesia journal. Additional information about the society and the journal may be found at www.iars.org and www.anesthesia-analgesia.org.

About Anesthesia & Analgesia

Anesthesia & Analgesia was founded in 1922 and was issued bi-monthly until 1980, when it became a monthly publication. A&A is the leading journal for anesthesia clinicians and researchers and includes more than 500 articles annually in all areas related to anesthesia and analgesia, such as cardiovascular anesthesiology, patient safety, anesthetic pharmacology, and pain management. The journal is published on behalf of the IARS by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a division of Wolters Kluwer Health, a global provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry.