Education & Accreditation Upcoming Events CAS World Anesthesia Day webinar

2026 CAS world anesthesia day webinar

October 14, 2026
7:30 PM ET (90 minute duration)
 

This event is an Accredited Group Learning Activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and approved by the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society. You may claim a maximum of 1.5 hours (credits are automatically calculated).

Celebrate World Anesthesia Day with an engaging virtual webinar exploring how anesthesiology has evolved and where it is headed next. Through two complementary presentations, participants will examine how research, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and patient safety have transformed anesthetic care, while considering how language, communication, and narrative-based medicine can influence clinical outcomes and healthcare culture.  

After participating in this activity, participants will be able to:  

  1. Describe how evidence-based research, quality improvement, and patient safety initiatives have shaped the evolution of anesthesiology practice. 

  2. Apply principles of critical reflection and evidence-informed decision-making to support continual improvement in clinical care and professional development.  

  3. Recognize the influence of language, communication, and narrative-based medicine on patient outcomes, professional practice, and healthcare culture.

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Presenter: Dr. Conor Mc Donnell 
Department of Anesthesia & Pain Medicine, University of Toronto

Talk title: The Intersection of Language & Harm: Where Error & Opportunity Thrive

Learning Objectives: 

  1. Identify unique opportunities for QI and / or harm-prevention. 
  2. ​Appreciate the potential for language and narrative-based medicine to contribute to clinical practice. 
  3. Create moments and space for personal reflection that is professionally productive. 

Dr. Conor Mc Donnell MD MB BCh BAO is a staff anaesthesiologist at The Hospital for Sick Children and holds a faculty appointment as Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine. His research interests cluster around Medication Safety, Opioid Stewardship, Harm and Quality Improvement. At SickKids he established the hospital's first medication safety program in 2012, and the first Opioid Stewardship Program in 2021. He is Associate Chief for Safety & Quality in Perioperative Services at SickKids, associate section editor for the journal Pediatric Anesthesia, and editor in chief of Case Repertory, a narrative-based medicine publication hosted by the University of Toronto's Narrative Based Medicine Lab.

He is past Chair of CAS Quality & Patient Safety Committee and current President (as of September 2026) of the Canadian Pediatric Anesthesiology Society. In addition, Dr. Mc Donnell is a published author. His most recent book, What We Know So Far Is... (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025) was one of Quill & Quire's books of 2025 and has been critically acclaimed across multiple national reviews. Conor will retire in less than five years and is increasingly being invited to talk about what he thinks as opposed to what he knows. 

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Presenter: Dr. Dolores McKeen
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Talk title: The Evolution of Anesthesiology – Changing Practice, Changing Lives through the Lens of Evidence

Learning Objectives: 

  1. Look Backward.. and recognize how lessons from the past shaped modern anesthesiology practice 

  • Discuss how research and evidence changed every day anesthetic practice particularly through the science of patient safety. 

  1. See where we are now.. and understand why evidence continues to matter in advancing anesthesiology 

  • Connect critical appraisal, evidence-based clinical decision-making, guidelines, quality of care to continuing advances in anesthesia and innovation, both in and beyond the OR 

  • Practicing anesthesiologists, front line clinicians translate findings into clinical practice with an imperative to de-adopt dogma and bridge the gap between evidence and care given.  

  1. Look Forward.. to appreciate our identity evolution and future risks of complacency 

  • Anesthesiology is no longer simply what happens in the OR between induction and emergence; our footprint extends beyond the OR, encompasses the entire perioperative journey, includes physician leadership and advocacy. 

Dr. Dolores McKeen is a former Interim Dean of Medicine at Memorial University (23-25) and a Professor of Anesthesia. She earned her Medical Doctorate ('92) and completed anesthesia residency at Memorial ('97) before pursuing a sub-specialty fellowship in Obstetric Anesthesia at Dalhousie University ('00). She attained an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology from Memorial ('04), CCPE ('18) and an ICD.D thru the University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management ('26). 
 
She served as the Vice Dean, Education and Faculty affairs at Memorial (‘21-23, 2026-present) the Chief of Women’s and Obstetric Anesthesia at the IWK Health Centre (‘18-21) and was the President of the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society (‘20-22). She currently sits on the CMA Board of Directors and at a national level contributes to medical education and accreditation on the RCPSC Residency Accreditation Committee.  
 
Dr. McKeen championed maternal health research, published a James Lind Alliance anesthesia research patient priority setting partnership and has over 100 peer-reviewed publications on perioperative outcomes and obstetric anesthesia care. She now focuses on physician leadership, medical education and addressing health care and system challenges. 

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Moderator: Dr Wesley Rajaleelan 
Chair, Archives and Artifacts Committee 
University of Ottawa

Dr. Wesley Rajaleelan is a staff anesthesiologist at The Ottawa Hospital and holds a faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine. He currently serves as the global and rural health representative from the University of Ottawa on the ACUDA board and chairs the GSOGAC (Global Surgery, OBGYN, Anesthesiology Committee) at The Ottawa Hospital. 

Dr. Rajaleelan is the Director for Global Health within the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Ottawa and actively contributes to national initiatives as a member-at-large on both the Abstracts Subcommittee and the Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee of the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society (CAS). He was recently appointed as the co-lead for the Ethiopia mission under the educational mandate of CASIEF and serves as the Chair of the Archives and Artifacts Committee of the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society.