Lynn D. Martin, M.D., M.B.A. is the 2023 recipient of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia's Myron Yaster Life Time Achievement Award
Myron Yaster MD
I am ecstatic and over the moon to announce that Dr. Lynn Martin is the 2023 recipient of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia’s Myron Yaster Life Time Achievement award. I met Lynn on his first day of Anesthesia residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1986. Hopkins has a wonderful and unique process of training their new first year residents. Essentially, 2 residents are assigned to a single attending for the first 2 weeks of their residencies to “imprint” them with a way to do anesthesia, their machine checkouts, preop interviews, etc. Lynn was one of my “ducklings” and I’ve followed and mentored him throughout his residency, fellowships in pediatric anesthesia and pediatric critical care medicine, and during his fabulous career in Seattle. He has become one of my dearest and closest friends and colleagues. For those of you who don’t know him, I’ve asked him to provide a short bio sketch and a list of his most important research papers and contributions to our specialty. I am just so proud of him and so happy that he was chosen for this award. Myron Yaster MD
Lynn D. Martin, M.D., M.B.A. is a Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He received his M.D. from the University of Washington School of Medicine (1982) and his M.B.A. for the University of Tennessee (2010). He completed residencies in both Pediatrics (Phoenix Children’s Hospital: 1982-86) and Anesthesiology (Johns Hopkins University: 1986-88) followed by fellowships in pediatric anesthesiology and pediatric critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University (1988-90). He is board certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology with specialty certification in pediatric anesthesia and the American Board of Pediatrics with specialty certification in pediatric critical care medicine. Dr. Martin was on the faculty at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (1990-93) and Seattle Children’s (1994-2023). While at Seattle Children’s, he served as the Director of the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine (2001-14) and Medical Director for Continuous Improvement and Innovation (2013-20).
During his tenure of leadership at Seattle Children’s, Dr. Martin clearly demonstrated his focus, passion, and commitment for quality improvement and patient safety. He co-founded the Pediatric Regional Anesthesia Network (PRAN) and Wake Up Safe (WUS) which is the quality improvement initiative for the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia.
· Polaner DM, Taenzer AH, Walker BJ, Bosenberg A, Krane, EJ, Suresh S, Wolf C, Martin LD: Pediatric Regional Anesthesia Network (PRAN): a multi-institutional study of the use and incidence of complications of pediatric regional anesthesia. Anesth Analg 2012; 115; 1353-64. (PMID: 22696610)
· Kurth DC, Tyler D, Heitmiller G, Tascone S, Martin LD, Deshpande J: National Pediatric Anesthesia Safety-Quality Improvement Program in the United States. Anesth Analg 2014; 119:112–21. (PMID: 24413551)
Groundbreaking examples of quality improvement and patient safety improvements his teams at Seattle Children’s completed include anesthesia related infection prevention, safety checklists, medication safety, enhanced recovery, and opioid free anesthesia and stewardship.
· Martin LD, Rampersad SE, Geiduschek JM, Weiss GK, Zerr DM, Martin LD: Modification of anesthesia practice reduces catheter associated bloodstream infections: a quality improvement initiative. Pediatr Anesth 2013; 23; 588-96. (PMID: 23565609)
· Low DK, Reed MA, Geiduschek JM, Martin LD: Striving for a zero-error patient surgical journey through adoption of aviation –style challenge and response flow checklists: a quality improvement project. Pediatr Anesth 2013; 23; 571-8. (PMID: 23373830)
· Martin LD, Grigg ED, Verma S, Latham G, Rampersad SE, Martin LD: Decreased Medication Errors in Pediatric Anesthesia Practice: Outcomes from a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. Pediatr Anesth 2017; 27: 571-80. (PMID: 28370645)
· Franz A, Martin LD, Liston D, et al: In pursuit of an Opioid-Free Pediatric Ambulatory Surgery Center – A Quality Improvement Initiative. Anesth Analg 2021; 132:788-97. (PMID: 32282383)
· Martin LD, Chiem JL, Hansen EE, et al. Completion of an Enhanced Recovery Program in a Pediatric Ambulatory Surgery Center: A Quality Improvement Initiative. Anesth Analg, 2022;135:1271-81. (PMID: 36384014)
· Martin LD, Rampersad SA, Ojo B, et al Outcomes for 41,260 Pediatric Surgical Patients with Opioid-Free Anesthesia: One Center’s Experience. Pediatr Anesth 2023;00:1-11. doi: 10.1111/pan.14705. (PMID: 37300350).
Dr. Martin was elected to the board and officer of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, ultimately serving as the 13th President of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (2010-12). During his tenure as president, SPA celebrated their 25th Anniversary by hosted the first International Assemble for Pediatric Anesthesia (IAPA) with the theme ‘Safety Knows No Borders’ in Washington, DC (2012). Perhaps best stated by the SPA Newsletter Editor at the time (Dr. Sean Flack) “I hope you will be inspired to continue the work that IAPA started. Ultimately, the success of IAPA will be determined by the friendships made in DC, relationships established between people and centers, and a commitment from all of us to work to improve patient safety, both home and abroad.” Dr. Martin was also instrumental in the creation of the Myron Yaster lifetime achievement award which acknowledges a lifetime contribution to the society’s mission to ‘continually advance the safety and quality of anesthesia care, perioperative management, and alleviation of pain in children’.
And of course, if you haven’t already done it, take a moment to register for SPA’s 37th annual meeting…
From Joe Sisk, M.D., FAAP Program Chair
The planning committee for the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia is thrilled to invite you to join us on October 13, 2023 in San Francisco, California. We are going to take you out of your comfort zone with our program. The meeting’s theme is “Challenging the Status Quo.” Your beliefs will be confronted with data and we hope you find yourself evolving your practice as you return to your patients. Additionally, this meeting features a collaboration between the SPA and the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (APA-GBI). We have arranged several visiting lecturers and a guest moderator to add unique international perspectives to your educational experience.
More information about the program may be found in the Mobile Meeting Guide
Meeting Registration
Link to Hotel Reservations
We look forward to seeing you in beautiful San Francisco!