Awakened Anesthetist
This podcast is for Certified Anesthesiologist Assistants, AA students, and anyone hoping to become one. As a CAA, I know how difficult it can be to find guidance that truly reflects our unique perspective. I created Awakened Anesthetist to be the supportive community of CAAs I needed on my own journey.
Every month, I feature CAA expanders in what I call my PROCESS interview series. I also create solo episodes that weave in themes of wellness, self-discovery, and mindful growth - offering insights and reflections that resonate with our high-pressure, high-responsibility lives. Through it all, you’ll discover the power you hold as a CAA to create a life by design, not by default. I know you’ll find yourself here at the Awakened Anesthetist podcast.
Awakened Anesthetist
LIVE REPLAY: On Leadership, Professional Growth and the Naysayers ft. AAAA 2024 President Danny Mesaros, CAA
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Join me for my first LIVE podcast interview featuring our 2024 AAAA President, Danny Mesaros. This episode was recorded in April 2024 in front of an intimate audience at the American Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants (AAAA) conference in Orlando, FL. During this candid conversation Danny discusses the demands of his presidency and what he envisions for the future of our profession. He also addresses the haters. A must-listen for any aspiring or practicing CAA!
Season 4 of Awakened Anesthetist Podcast is launching on Friday, September 13th, and I’m thrilled to share the episodes I’ve been working on this summer. This season, we’ll dive into what it means to be a healthy and thriving Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant, and for those of you curious about the profession, I’ll be giving you an insider’s look each month. Of course, I’ll continue the fan-favorite PROCESS episodes, expanding our vision of what’s possible for CAAs. I’m excited to see what we can build together this season. Talk soon!
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Anesthetist Podcast Interview With Danny Massaros
Speaker 1As we lead up to the season premiere of Awakened Anestis podcast season four on September 13th , I'm releasing this exclusive replay of the live interview I did at Quad A 2024 of the current Quad A president , danny Massaros . In this really intimate conversation before a live audience , you're going to hear Danny talking about where he sees the profession going over the next 10 years , his thoughts on whether we will have licensure in all 50 states and a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes discussion on what the Quad A presidency actually entails , whether or not he gets any money for his position and how the Quad A spends your dues and its donations . We got into so much real talk in this conversation . Danny is such a genuine and inspiring leader and CAA . I know you're going to enjoy meeting him just as much as I did , so enjoy this replay episode if you didn't have a chance to be there live at the Quad A , or if you're a prospective AA student and are thinking maybe one day this profession is meant for you . I think this is going to be a really inspiring conversation . So I will see everyone back here on September 13th for the season three premiere and until then , be sure you're following AwakendAnesthetist on whatever podcast platform you currently listen . You can also subscribe to my newsletter there is a link for that down in the show notes and follow me on Instagram at AwakendAnesthetist for even more behind the scenes .
Speaker 1All right , here we go . Welcome to the Awakened Anesthetist podcast , the first podcast to highlight the CAA experience . I'm your host , mary Jean , and I've been a certified anesthesiologist assistant for close to two decades . Throughout my journey and struggles , I've searched for guidance that includes my unique perspective as a CAA . At one of my lowest points , I decided to turn my passion for storytelling and my belief that the CAA profession is uniquely able to create a life by design into a podcast . If you are a practicing CAA , current AA student or someone who hopes to be one , I encourage you to stick around and experience the power of being in a community filled with voices who sound like yours , sharing experiences you never believed possible . I know you will find yourself here at the Awakened Anesthetist Podcast . Welcome in . Welcome to the first live recording of Awaken Ness's podcast . I'm just going to give you a little bit of .
Speaker 2Yay .
Speaker 1Thanks guys . I'm just going to give you a little bit of background on me . We'll maybe give some people some time to walk in . But I started podcasting in 2021 , not because of anesthesia , but because I needed an excuse to talk to my husband more during the pandemic . We really needed an opportunity to work on us , and so I was like , let's start a podcast and let's have it be about our marriage . And , lo and behold , I fell into podcasting , into this medium that I really love .
Speaker 1I have always been a closeted storyteller , and just one of the things I hold so dear is being told a good story , and I really wanted to do that for other people . And then , as I got going , I realized that the people I really want to speak to are my profession , and I looked for resources . I looked for people online , people who are talking about things that I want to talk about as a CAA , and I just didn't find any , and so I thought , well , I guess this means that I will start a podcast for my profession . And so Awaken Anestis was really born in 2021 . I didn't release anything till late 2022 , I believe , and since then it's really been an opportunity for me to meet so many of you and an opportunity to do things like this and to talk about the things I really care about , which is how to use the CAA profession to live your best life , how to discover who you are outside of anesthesia and come on in , and how to find a community that really can connect in a way that I think CAAs are uniquely able to connect . So thank you all for being here and supporting this live episode .
Speaker 1I start everything with a little timeout , as I call them , just to get us sort of familiar with our guest , and so Dani Massaros is my guest today . I will be doing one of the process episodes and I'm really interested in understanding who Danny is as a human behind the Quad A presidency . So Danny graduated from the third class ever out of South Savannah in 2008 . We would have been classmates because I actually almost interviewed there . So Danny and I were almost classmates and worked in Georgia and then DC and then found his way to Grand Rapids , michigan , where he works full time . He does a mix of like eight , 10s and 12s to kind of have some days off during every other week , and among a full time CA career you're many other things , like a dad to four boys and a husband and a leader and a mentor and a colleague and a husband and a leader and a mentor and a colleague . And so I really welcome Danny to Awaken Anesthetist and I'm excited to have this conversation .
Speaker 1Yeah , I'm excited to be here , thanks , yeah , I like starting it off with a rapid fire round , actually because I think it sort of gets us comfortable , and also I have found that I am a little bit interested in your behind the scenes . I have found that I am a little bit interested in your behind the scenes and so I asked on my Instagram for what rapid fire questions CAAs wanted to know , and we struggled to understand what a rapid fire question was . I got a lot of long winded questions , which is kind of my out , but the number one question I got was Danny , who is your favorite co-worker . A lot of people are vying for the position .
Speaker 2Oh , so this has to be a current co-worker .
Speaker 1I got it several times from many former co-workers .
Speaker 2Oh , I'm definitely not going to say anyone I'm working with now , because that would just cause trouble , but I have to say Lainey DiLoretto .
Speaker 1It's a very easy answer for me . Awesome , wonderful . I have spoke to her about you actually when she found out , I was interviewing you . What time do you get up in the morning and go to bed ?
Speaker 2Oh for like work .
Speaker 1Just on a general basis .
Speaker 2I like to stay up late and watch TV . That's sort of my time after the kids are asleep or do whatever or work on quiet day stuff . I don't know . I probably go to bed 10 , 30 , 11 and wake up at 5.45 .
Speaker 1And do you get to work early ? Then , if you get up at 5.45 , or are you scooting in last minute with a bad excuse like that ?
Speaker 2I do not like to scoot in last minute . I like to be ready and be able to sit and have a cup of coffee . I'm not saying I don't do that , but I don't feel good about it . I often find when I scoot in late , the patient has something extra that I need to take care of , and I don't want to be the thing holding everybody back .
Speaker 1Yes , yes , that is really good , danny . I could learn from that Last question . What did you want to be when you were a kid ?
Speaker 2Oh , what did I want to be man ? That's a tough one . I wanted to be the president of the United States . I think when I was little , my dad used to call me Zarvij .
Speaker 1Say more . I don't exactly understand Zarvage .
Speaker 2It's like this Romanian leader or something like that . I don't know , I just always . I think when I was in kindergarten I was like the president of the kindergarten class and I was the reason kindergartners got to go to the salad bar .
Speaker 1Oh . Because we weren't allowed to go to the salad bar . What a claim to fame .
Speaker 2Yeah right , Apparently it was a thing I don't remember .
Speaker 1Awesome , awesome . I'd love to have my guests answer this first question , because I think it's really interesting to look back on who we were , especially as children , and kind of see what molded and shaped us . So take us back to little Danny , sort of what was your upbringing ? What culture were you brought up in ?
Speaker 2Sure , born and raised in Savannah , georgia . My family is Irish Catholic . I am number four of four boys , so I was a late addition to the family , so my brothers are a little bit older than I am , so I got picked on a lot by them in a good way though , right , but they wouldn't let anybody else pick on me . But I do remember getting dropped in the trash can and all those kinds of things that brothers do . But yeah , so , born and raised Irish Catholic , my mom taught in an all-girls school . My dad was actually a coin dealer or , as I did a book report on when I was little , a numismatist , so we had to define that . So it was a really good upbringing as a child .
Career Journey to CAA Presidency
Speaker 1And where along your path did you realize you maybe were going into medicine or you found the CA career kind of early or late ? Tell us about that journey .
Speaker 2Oh yeah , I was always interested in biology or sciences . I didn't really know . Everybody in my family was sort of that business path , sort of going to the University of Georgia is like a thing with our family . Both my parents went there , all my brothers went there . I graduated from UGA . My nieces are there now . So when I went to Georgia I was pre-med but I also didn't really know if I could do it . To be honest , there wasn't like this individual that's like , oh you're I never , I guess . I like self-doubt a lot and I still do that today . But I was like I don't know that I can get through medical school or I was really nervous about it . So halfway through I sort of joined a physician assistant club at UGA and a AA from Emory came and spoke at the PA club and that's how I found out about the profession .
Speaker 2And you were hooked right away , and thought , oh man , I was like , look at this , it's like it looks really challenging , really rewarding , and if it's not what I want to do , but I would get this huge headstart on , like the knowledge base and then I could go back to medical school if I wanted , but I was definitely hooked , yeah .
Speaker 1I'm interested . When in your career did you realize oh , this is the thing I'm doing , as opposed to this is the thing that's going to lead me to medical school ? Did you find that out when you were in AA school or further along your path ?
Speaker 2That's a really good point . I don't know . I mean , I always had that thing in the back of your mind , like I now , I think , in this point in my career , because I self-doubt a little bit less and I recognize that maybe some of that self-doubt has sort of pushed me to higher levels and maybe it's like a good thing . I've still thought about it Like man I could go to medical school , but I'm like I've still thought about it Like man I could go to medical school , but I'm like man that would be financially irresponsible and in addition I have four kids and I want to spend time with them and I recognize that my wife would disown me if I- .
Speaker 1It would be a hard journey .
Speaker 2Yeah , to be honest , too , is this profession and part of your podcast too , is it opens a lot of doors for us to do other things . And if I went to med school and I know I could pass the MCAT and I know I could get into med school and I know I could be a good physician , but then I have the feeling that that would be all I was going to be right . I remember in AA school , traveling , and I think I was in St Louis where we trained with the residents there and a lot of them were divorced in residency already and I was . It was like a huge percentage , like eight out of 20 or something , and it just sort of stuck with me Like I want to have a family and I want to , you know , be engaged , and if I maybe go that route , maybe that's the only thing I'm going to be able to do and I just feel like there's so much other stuff out there that we can do and be a part of that this job affords .
Speaker 1Yes , yeah , I totally see that in my own life and that had to be revealed to me in my own life as well , like I didn't see it , maybe as early as you saw it . So that's really interesting . I'm curious , when you were working , what you knew about the Quad A and the Quad A presidency and getting involved politically . Was it on the top of your mind when you graduated Like , okay , I want to be president of the United States or the president of the Quad A presidency and getting involved politically ? Was it on the top of your mind when you graduated Like , ok , I want to be president of the United States or the president of the Quad A ?
Speaker 2No , I was always involved . I came as like a student . I came to Quad A and you meet all these people and back then there was probably like 300 people at the meeting . Yeah .
Speaker 2And it was much more intimate and there was , we had a lot of fun . It was just fun coming to the Quad A , hanging out with your classmates and seeing preceptors out of the OR , and so I liked that environment and I knew I wanted to be involved . But I did not think I would ever be president of the Quad A no chance .
Speaker 1And what was your journey ? I want to ask you a very specific question about saying yes to the presidency , but what was your journey leading up to that ? Had you done some other things ? Leadership wise .
Speaker 2Yeah , I really got more involved when I went to DC . Okay , the president of the Quad A , sarah Patel , worked for our group and she , carrie Twitchell , was actually stepping into the role as president and she needed somebody to run the annual meeting committee . And I have no clue how to run a meeting right , but my wife was an event planner in Savannah very successful event planner and they were like get him to do it , his wife can help , right .
Speaker 2So , I went from just being a Quad , a member to the chair of the annual meeting committee , and I remember talking to someone on the committee saying , hey , I'm going to be involved with this . They're like , oh yeah , you're not the chair . I was like , no , I think I am . So I didn't realize how big of a job it was going to be until it was sort of thrust upon me . But I think that's the way our organization was in the past is we only have so many people that do these volunteer roles . And now when I'm in that role I see people that have something inside . I'm like I know this person can do that role and like you just make them do it , make them say yes , and then they're successful at it .
Speaker 2And so .
Speaker 1Yeah , yes , I see that playing out in our profession in real time , that people are stepping into roles they never thought they could have or take , and I think one of the missions of my podcast and speaking to you right now is to see that like , okay , well , danny is a human being right here doing a whole bunch of other things as well as being the Quad A president what is possible for me in my life ? I just think that's a really interesting narrative to see play out in front of you that the CAA profession hasn't had before . So I totally agree . I want to hear about the moment that you said yes to the Quad A presidency , because I believe there were a couple of moments preceding the yes , if I'm correct .
Speaker 2Yeah , I can go into those . I don't really necessarily think it was a moment when I said yes . I mean I remember texting sort of some of the leaders and saying yes , but it was really a time when we talked . I talked about it a lot Like we . It wasn't just a decision made Like we have . We have four kids and I knew how much time it was going to be , and when I commit to something like that I'm all in . So I needed to make sure that my wife and my kids were on board with this . That's actually part of it . I think it's the best thing I did because it's made it easy . All these meetings , we do not one time since I started has my wife ever rolled her eyes that I had a Quade meeting , and it happens a lot . We have a lot of pop-up Quade meetings or this or that , and the fact that I don't have to feel more guilt about taking time away from our family because she doesn't she doesn't do that Like that means a lot to me . I think that sort of falls into the like the planning of it .
Balancing Quad a Presidency Roles
Speaker 2I think the bigger moment it would be , the more that when I said no , I was asked to be a Quade president before and I immediately said no . And then that night I was like hey , hon , guess what happened for me today ? I got asked to be a quiet day president . She's like well , what did you say ? I said well , yeah . I said no . And she my , when I said no , it was easy to me because we were so busy at home . I knew it wasn't right , like we just didn't weren't going to be able to make it happen , and so I knew that I should say no . But then her response to that was what do you mean ? You said no . It was like the complete opposite of what I was thinking . She's like that's such a big deal . You have to go back to them and tell them you'll consider it and figure out more information about it . So it was just interesting that her support from that side to me to keep doing these things , even though you know the sacrifice that it was going to mean .
Speaker 1Yeah , did you say yes ? Was that the same year you said yes , or did you wait ? No , I definitely I ended up saying no .
Speaker 2No , I said no , it wasn't right . And for us that was really crucial because right after that was when COVID hit , and then we had a COVID baby , so we had a fourth child . So I would have been president of the Quad A during our fourth child and COVID and let me tell you that would not have gone well for us .
Speaker 1No , that would have been difficult . Yeah , tell us a little bit about your day in the life , because you've talked a lot about juggling all of these things and how it was the right season for you , of these things and how it was the right season for you . But I'm still interested to hear sort of the nitty gritty , because I think that adds a lot of perspective of what it actually feels like to be the Quad A president . So give us maybe a day or a week , if a day is hard .
Speaker 2Well , I'll start with why it's the right time for us . I said no because our kids were really little and I thought that , man , we , when they get just a little bit older , there'll be more time , right , it's completely wrong , right , completely wrong . When your kids get older , they have these sporting events and they're going to remember you being there and and my oldest son is 11 and he's starting to get into those things and I said , if I don't do this now , it's never going to happen . And that was sort of the reason I said yes , and that was part of the plan . Is like hon , if I don't do this now , it's never going to happen . And that was sort of the reason I said yes , and that was part of the plan . Is like hon , if I don't do this now , it's not going to happen . I'm okay with that , but I do have this feeling that I need to do it Now .
Speaker 2What does a day look like ? It's sort of cyclical in terms of the weeks . Right , I'll give you next week , like we have a , I get , I work an eight hour shift . We'll get home , we'll have a meeting at 4.30 to five with our federal team . We'll have a state meeting with my lobbyists , because you know we're going for licensure and the state I'm living in right now in Michigan , right ?
Speaker 1So I didn't know that .
Speaker 2Yeah , I'm president of the MAAA too .
Speaker 1Naturally , naturally .
Speaker 2Right , they twist my arm into that . So then , right after that we'll have the president's call , where it's the three , the immediate , nicole and Jen , and our executive director . We'll get on the call and we meet every other week .
Speaker 1Can you say just briefly a little bit more about how the quadri-presidency is a three-person job real ?
Speaker 2quick . Yeah , I would say it's a three-headed monster . Is the ?
Speaker 1way I would describe it . I won't tell them . You said that .
Speaker 2Oh , they'll hear it , I tell it to their face this role is way too much work for one person to handle . Imagine like you have your kids at home , you have your job , you're getting all these other stretches , and a state or somebody from your friend calls from . I'll just say New Mexico , and they're like we need this now and you just can't always meet that . You just can't do it . It's just too much . So this is really a three-person job and it's great because I can't always travel , because I do this and Nicole and Jen will take those extra efforts out of their time and handle it , or Jen's busy doing this and I can step in and handle it , and we really you think of the role as a president like my presidential year , like what am I going to achieve ? It's really a three-year deal , because the successes of this year aren't all my successes . They're from Jen last year and Laura the year before that and Crystal the year before that and we keep pushing this boulder
Volunteer Roles in Quad A
Speaker 2. So that's sort of the three-headed monster of a volunteer position .
Speaker 1A volunteer position . That was news to me . I did not know that . The Quad A presidency and every position correct . Yeah , Every position on the Quad A is volunteer 22 volunteers run your organization . Yes , that's a separate issue to discuss on a separate day , but yeah , that's incredible .
Speaker 2So back to the day , Two meetings 430 to 5 , 5 to 530 . And then we have the president's call , which is an hour at minimum and sometimes it runs over a little bit , but and then , depending , we'll have a board meeting quarterly , and then so I think there's eight board meetings because there's an interim , and then our EC . Every second or third president's call we make it an EC . So Emily , our treasurer , and Lily , who's our executive committee chair , she sort of comes in and they sit and we talk about the issues that are sort of going on , and that's sort of what a normal week looks like .
Speaker 2But then you have state meetings pop up , you have state academies , you have text emails , anything that someone would need , and you know our profession . Like , oh , let's say , let's just pick Georgia . Like , oh well , there's a practice issue in Georgia and people might lose their job . Like they look to to us and they call us and they text me on the phone and it happens in the OR . Sometimes you're like oh , I got like 52 texts because something happened and so it's definitely not something that one person can do on their own .
Speaker 1Yeah , how often is a quad , a representative , going out to these big issues ? Is that normally what has to happen ? Someone shows up .
Speaker 2Thankfully , one of the good things that came about COVID is Zoom . Everyone's comfortable with Zoom , so it's really made it more feasible for us to be there . But it's more a text like this is the issue how can you help me ? Or this is what's going on , and it's not just how can you help me . Most of the time it's oh man , like I really got to help this person Right . It's really hard and I think at different times you have different things happen in your work right that you can't control or you don't know the answer to , and you want to look to somebody for that answer and sort of quite a . We want to be that answer for members , and I think a lot of people don't . They think they're safe . A lot of times in your job you know until you're not , and then you don't have any experience on how to fix this Right , and that's where you know fellow CAAs need to step in and help you .
Speaker 1Yeah , I have a couple harder questions maybe .
Speaker 2That's what I'm used to . Easier harder questions . Enough of the softball .
Speaker 1What part of the presidency do you dread ? What part keeps you up at night ?
Speaker 2What do I dread ? Well , I dread when we get those things where you can't help somebody I'm losing my job because , or they're not going to hire me because of X , y and Z due to some opposition or whatever , and there's just sometimes there's nothing we can do about it . We just don't have a fix so that I don't like Come the fourth or fifth meeting of the week . I will say it's a little dreadful when it's there are weeks where we have quite a or something related to anesthesia meeting every single night of the week , um , so that that can get old pretty quickly . I'll be happy that next week when there's like nothing , um , but uh it , you know , we we try to take it easy on each other too . Like , oh , jen's sick , she's not going to make the meeting today , right , or whatever the call is . Hey , my kids are going crazy and it's like Lord of the Flies in the other room . Let me step away for five minutes . Yeah .
Speaker 2So I would probably say that what I hate the most is some of the negative stuff you read on Facebook .
Speaker 1Say more about that . I'm not on Facebook . I know what you're talking about , but I don't know specifics .
Speaker 2It's not that I hate . I look at Facebook differently . I look at some of the stuff written on Facebook . I think of Facebook now as a place for people to vent right and say I'm not happy , this is what I'm not happy about . You know , as a provider , as a CAA nothing to do with the Quad A there's times when I'm not happy and I want to vent too , and I want to . You know why can't we make this work ? And what I found is the venting doesn't help me any . I mean , sometimes I feel better afterwards , but is the problem fixed ? And I think that that sort of goes into why I'm . This is quad a president . This is my chance to get back at whoever else is doing the things I don't like . This is my opportunity to say you know , no , or this is not how it's going to go down . This is my chance to sort of push back .
Speaker 1Well , now you've opened the question of what are you pushing back on this year ? What do you not like ? Danny that you can share .
Speaker 2What do I not like ? That's a toughie . I mean , my wife's family is from Michigan . I want to be able to practice in Michigan . Why can't I go and practice at any facility in Michigan ? Right Now , it happens to be that where we want to be is CAAs are hired there , but we have one employer there . It's ridiculous . I would let me take care of your family , that's . You know what I mean . I think you should feel like that . You want to be the best provider out there , and the fact that we can only work at one place . It's ridiculous . So I'm mad about it . I'm not , but I'm not going to go and yell and scream about it . How am I going to fix it ? Yeah .
Speaker 2Right , I think when you ask a question , or how can you fix it , how can we fix it ? That's what it should be about .
Speaker 1Is that what you would tell the people on Facebook who are upset ? Is there anything else those people can do ? Because I have coworkers , I know people who are disenchanted with the quad A , or why aren't we doing this , or why doesn't the profession do that ? And it , you know , it all feels like it has a shred of truth to it , but I don't know what's the next step .
Speaker 2Yeah , I like that question actually . Like me too , I'm mad . Why aren't we practicing every state ? Why can't we do this ? Why , why , why do we have X , y and Z ?
Speaker 2I don't really want to get into the issues , but I'm mad about it too . I think vending is helpful , but I think what I would like them to know is who runs the Quad A . Right , like 22 volunteers run the Quad A . I'm a dad of four . I have 42 million different things , and the last thing I want to do on a Friday night is click on that Facebook because I'm addicted to the phone like everybody else and read something about .
Speaker 2You know me personally and what I'm not doing , right , and so I have to take a step back , and you know generally what we do is I'll start texting the text chain between the three of us and we can vent to each other me , jen and Nicole , like you know . But when I take a deep breath , they're venting because they're not happy about things in our profession . In our profession . I would ask them to consider that if they're not happy with Quad A , maybe they're not happy with the people that were running Quad A before . Maybe , or those people didn't have the resources to fix the things that were needed . If you're mad at Quad A , that's just like a name , like Quad A is 22 AAs that are willing to give their time to help push the boulder in the way we want it to . So why are you mad at your coworker for trying to do something ? I get that I can't get it all done , but I just wish that they would consider that . Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2And when I message you privately because I think some of the stuff you're saying is legitimate , come back and join the quad . Come help me , do what you want to do , right ? If there's a problem , let's fix it . I don't have all the answers .
Speaker 1Yeah , Just a point of logistics . Actually , as I'm thinking and listening to you as a CAA who would like to get involved in certain things , you know everyone has kind of their area of interest . How does one join the Quad A ? How do how ? When does that happen ? Sure Besides the voting process which I feel like we get those emails we maybe know that Do you mean like a member ? Or like a committee . No , like a committee .
Speaker 2A committee . So on the Quade website , anesthetistorg , there are committee chairs and you can pull up their email via the directory and pop them an email , or you can email me and we'll help you find a place to help . There is so much work to be done .
Speaker 1Okay , yeah , I mean , I think that's good to know . It's good to hear the Quad A say you know , over and over again , we need help . This is a volunteer crew and , regardless of whether that's the way everyone wants to keep it or not , that's the reality now is that we just need more people to help .
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean I wish well , let's be honest , we need more people . But the game is about money too unfortunately . Like . We need the money to afford the things that can help us drive forward Right Can you say a little bit more about the money Because I things that can help us drive forward .
Speaker 1Mm-hmm Right , can you say a little bit more about the money , because I think that's a conversation that people don't usually want to talk about , and I love that you just brought it up . Yeah , so let's talk about it .
Speaker 2I love talking about money . Sure ,
Financial, Legislative, and Professional Growth
Speaker 2so money for you . Obviously , your membership goes to different things , right , the money that you pay for your membership . We have a management company that helps collect everything , organize the meetings , so there's a percentage of it that goes to that . We use a lot of the money for legislative efforts , whether it be hiring a lobbyist or whether it be hiring a lobbying team or DGA team . In the past five years , we've really taken steps forward , right . Obviously , our organization is growing . Right , so there's more members , right . So then we actually have a little bit more money to be able to do big things . We have a federal team , we have that state team , and having somebody that can help those 22 volunteers is so crucial or that has experience lobbying we're not going into a new state who puts in a licensure bill and it's the first time they've heard of an AA or talked to an AA when they're deciding on this bill . Right , we're starting to play chess instead of checkers .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's encouraging .
Speaker 2Right , and I want to play chess . I mean , don't get me wrong , double jumping somebody on checkers yeah , that's encouraging and I want to play chess . I mean , don't get me wrong , double jumping somebody on checkers is fine . But as an organization , we need to make key moves and we're really , really thinking about big key moves .
Speaker 1Well , a lot of the non-rapid fire rapid fire questions I was submitted were about licensure in all 50 states . When is that happening ? How does that happen ? How do we get CAs in states that don't have CAs currently , and how much of it is tied to money and how much is it tied to manpower volunteering ?
Speaker 2Money drives everything . Money , money drives everything . Uh , money drives everything . Money , money drives everything . You know , if we had enough money to hire three CAAs to completely work for the Quad A , that would be amazing , right . We could have those directly work on different things . There's always manpower that has to be on the ground in a new state , right ? If you want to know 50 states ? I don't have the answer to that . I have no clue . I want it to be tomorrow , right , but we've gotten three states in the last three years . We've got the ball rolling , right . There is an argument that we don't even have to make . The anesthesia workforce shortage is real . We need more quality providers and we as a profession , as CAAs , like we , are the answer to that . We are the long-term solution to the workforce shortage , right ? Physicians are one model . A nurse , anesthetist are another model and we are the answer . That is not already tapped out . Aas , don't pull from nursing shortage . There's a bigger nursing shortage than there is anesthesia shortage .
Speaker 1Interesting .
Speaker 2I saw a number in Michigan where there was something like 8,000 shortages in the state of Michigan . 6,000 of those were nurses . We need good nurses to do things . Maybe our profession helps lighten that burden that they have there that nobody talks about as you just mentioned , over the last five years , where is the Quad A ?
Speaker 1or where do you as a CAA not as the Quad A president , but where do you as a CAA , see the profession going in the next 10 years ?
Speaker 2Man , we are expanding incredibly . We have to do it carefully . We can't just expand without a plan , right ? I would like to think more on an individual basis with that question . Like I and this will probably be something I talk about some point at the quad A like I want to be the provider of choice , right , that is my goal . When there's a big case that comes in , I want the anesthesiologist to say , hey , put Danny in there , like he's going to handle it Right . Or if somebody needs a request , like I , put Danny in there , he's going to do a really good job and he cares , right .
Speaker 2I think if we drive to be the provider of choice every day , then a lot of these problems will work themselves out . But it's on it's not just on the Quad A or another organization to do that . It's on every CAA themselves to keep their CMEs up to study , to do the things that you need to do to be the best . And it can be a small thing . It can be like I need to get to work every day 10 minutes early so that— .
Speaker 1I feel called out .
Speaker 2Danny , you said it though , right , yes , no , it's , I need to get , I need to be to work 10 minutes early every day so that I am the most prepared for every case that could happen , or myself I need to put my phone down more and be thinking about my next case instead of in between cases . Or there's so much that we can do to be the provider of choice , and I think it's on every single , whether it's somebody training a student right , if I want to , if I , when I have a student and they see how much I want to be the provider of choice , they're going to mirror that Right . We got to set examples on an everyday basis .
Speaker 1Talk to me about how your philosophy of saying yes sort of plays into that being a provider of choice .
Speaker 2I love it A little dribble . This is the live podcast , so when you pour water down your face , everybody sees it Saying yes . I think that I have learned so much more from saying yes than I do saying no . I'm not saying you shouldn't say no Just on a daily basis , like , hey , can you stay late ? Yes , I think that was sort of instilled in me when I first started at this trauma center in Savannah Don't ask when you're getting off . Like you're the new person . Like don't ask , don't be that person . Someone had told me that I don't remember who , so I never really asked when I was getting off . Can you stay late ? Yes , be flexible .
Speaker 2Always say yes in the clinical setting and you'll get some different experiences that if you wouldn't . If you said no . Right , and don't get me wrong . Sometimes I say yes and it hasn't been that great . Right , you have bad things happen . But take a job interview , even if you're completely underqualified for it , because you're going to learn things about that job and you're going to learn more things about yourself . Like , okay , what are the areas I need to improve in ? You know , yes , and don't get me wrong . You should have times when you say no . I'm really bad at saying no . I'm trying really better to say no when it's appropriate . I feel better when I say yes . Yes , just sounds better .
Speaker 2I don't know , I feel good about myself and no , don't get me wrong , I might be regretting it at 3.30 , when I said yes , I'll stay late , regretting it at 3.30 when I said yes , I'll stay late , but yes has opened so many more doors for me , than I think saying no would have ever opened .
Speaker 1What would be a success for you as a quad , a president ? Would you walk away feeling like , all right , I did what I could .
Speaker 2I mean , like I said , it's not the one-year thing , it's the three-year , so I have another year and a half to sort of do this . Things that matter , obviously opening states , right , but let's Washington State right . That just opened , right ? Woo , it happened during my presidency , but wasn't that's been three years in the running , right , right , it happened during my presidency , but wasn't that's been three years in the running , right ? That , yes , and that greatness belongs to the people who before me , who sort of got that ball rolling Right . So I want to get other things going that would they're going to continue Right , and what would be like a big success ? What if you know we need a new website ?
Speaker 1Yes , Danny .
Speaker 2Right .
Speaker 1I second that .
Speaker 2Yes , that's all I'm going to say about that , because we have a hint about that tomorrow , right .
Speaker 1I'm here for that , all right .
Speaker 2Like that's been on my radar for a long time . But that's not just me , Other people before me . Right , I want to have people recognize that volunteers are running this organization and find a couple people that are called to do it . When you get one of these roles , if you're a committee chair , it's sort of on you to find the next person before you're out of it . Right , I want to inspire some people to do this .
Speaker 2I did not think I was qualified to be quality president . I still hesitate when they say that , right , Sometimes I'll do really great things . I'm like man , that was amazing . And then other times I'll fall on my face . But then there's Jen and Nicole there to sort of no , do this , do this , do this . And it sort of supports you , it's a supported role . I think that there are so many people in our profession that could absolutely run this organization , but they won't say yes to joining the Quad A or joining a committee or writing an op-ed piece or joining their state academy at least . Right , you know , there are so many smart and there are half the so many people that are joining now are probably way smarter than I was when I became a CA . I I'm sure you feel ?
Speaker 1that I totally feel that If I had to apply now I'd be like I'd be nervous .
Speaker 2Maybe I need to increase my application , but time started to build this experience and you know , I don't really know where I'm going with this , but I just think that so many . I want more people to get involved .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2That's what I want . That would be a success . If five people come up to me and say I'm going to do this because I heard your podcast Great .
Speaker 1Awesome , I hope that happens .
Speaker 2We'll see .
Speaker 1I love this question . This is sort of one of the points that I really look for when I look to talk deeply with other CAAs , and it's to talk about how you feel like you've used the CAA profession to live your best life , if you would agree with that , if you have more to grow or if you feel like you're there now .
Speaker 2Depends on the time right . Things change depending on where you are in your career . You know , when you first start , I mean I was a Quad A member but I didn't do anything on the time right . Things change depending on where you are in your career . You know , when you first start , I mean I was a quad A member but I didn't do anything on the side . But then I started realizing that maybe I didn't want to be in the stressful environment that we're in when I'm 55 or 60 , right . So what are my options ? I'm a CAA Like . This is our job . We're going to be in the OR .
Speaker 2But there are other opportunities . There's education and you know that sort of spoke to me always , anytime I had a student . I you know , maybe I could be an educator most of the time , but I still want to be in the operating room . So there's flexibility in that . Flexibility in that . Even this role of being the quad A president it was , you know , we thought we did the . You know the weighted scale right , the pros and cons of doing this I have the paper somewhere .
Speaker 1I kept it because I thought it would be funny later to look back at .
Speaker 2It opens opportunities for you to do different things , and for me that was having a big family and being able to be there for my kids . Things at times and other times work more or at other times educate students , which I do , and then other times , you know , go to the quiet day or go meet with the governor or go do whatever you need to do . But I think , like I spoke to earlier , if I wasn't a CAA , I don't know that I would have the flexibility to do that . There's times in my career when I've grinded out 100 hours every two weeks and making as much overtime as we can , and I think there's times for that . But I also think there's times to take for yourself and work less or to find what sort of makes you happy Right .
Speaker 1I love that . I love the answer . Sounds like it's still evolving , as well as 100 percent .
Speaker 2I can't wait till I figure out what I'm going to do when I get older . Right .
Speaker 1I love that . I love that conversation . This is my last question actually . We did not go over time . I'm very proud of us , danny . My last question is I'm interested for those prospective A's who are listening , or the A's students who look to you as a leader . I mean , I think you may be shy away from that , but that's just the truth of it .
Speaker 1I mean , you're one of the examples of what it is to be in leadership as a CAA , and so I'm curious what you would tell your younger self , or to tell that early stage CAA that is listening right now that you wish you knew .
Speaker 2Oh , that's a good one . A thank you for that .
Speaker 1I really appreciate it .
Speaker 2That's a big compliment .
Continuous Growth Through Humility and Dedication
Speaker 2I think , probably like most grads , when I came out of school , that I was sort of arrogant , right , you think you know everything . Right , and maybe you don't think you know everything , but you think you're really good at what you do . Right , and I always wanted to be the best , like I want to be the best anesthetist , and I think it took me some time to realize that maybe the best anesthetist doesn't think they're the best anesthetist , right ? Maybe they think that there's so many areas that they can improve on , because then you're always learning , right , and it's evolved over my career as to like thinking I don't think I'm the best anesthetist , but I know that , like , certain things I do are really really good and I need to continue to do those .
Speaker 2So what would I tell myself ? I would try to say be humble , right . I always tell students is to you know , come early and stay late , right , that matters , that shows that you're engaged . Like if someone's going to relieve you right before extubation . Like have some pride in your like case and say you know what ? That's probably not appropriate . Like I'm going to stay and wait this patient up , make sure they get to the recovery room , and you can't always do that , but if you can , you absolutely should do that . A you owe it to your patient , but it's just good quality care , like . So I would say you know , be humble , show up early , stay late and say yes , you know , so I would . I would say , say yes .
Speaker 1Thank you , danny . I really appreciate your words and the opportunity to speak with you . You have fulfilled one of my dreams as a CAA , which is to have these types of conversations with the people who are leading us , so I appreciate that and I thank you very much .
Speaker 2Appreciate that and I thank you very much Yay .
Speaker 1Thanks for being here . Yeah , what Great job . What Great job Awesome .
