Central Line is the official biweekly podcast from the American Society of Anesthesiologists, edited by Dr. Adam Striker. We'll bring together leaders in the field of anesthesiology for conversations that address challenges and opportunities vital to the field. We hope you'll join ASA to learn more about how the anesthesiology community is working to advance patient safety, the quality of care and the profession.
Dr. Zach Deutch interviews Drs. Itay Bentov and Frederick Sieber about perioperative care for older adults. Learn about postoperative neurocognitive complications, common misperceptions about the perioperative care of older adults, ASA’s recent practice advisory, and more. Recorded April 2026. See details.
Dr. Brooke Trainer interviews Mr. Robert Avin, Vice President of USI Affinity, about the ins and outs of insurance. Find out what anesthesiologists at every career stage should consider, how to know if you’re truly covered, how ASA is working to help members meet their insurance needs, and more. Recorded April 2026. See details.
Dr. Adam Striker talks to Dr. Thomas Vetter about his new role as editor-in-chief of the ASA Monitor. Learn about the responsibilities of an editor-in-chief, how the publication fits into the broader media landscape, changes on the horizon, and more. Recorded April 2026. See details.
The guest editors of May’s ASA Monitor, Drs. Brooke Trainer and George Tewfik, discuss practice models with Dr. Zach Deutch. Listen in as they consider the wide array of career paths available to anesthesiologists and weigh competing concerns such as clinical environment decision making, payment, work-life balance, culture, and more. Recorded March 2026. See details.
Dr. Adam Striker welcomes Dr. Shamsuddin Akhtar, member of the ACE editorial board, for a discussion of the use of various narcotics in patients with liver disease. Listen in as they discuss how the liver metabolizes opioids in patients with cirrhosis, dosing considerations, and more. Recorded March 2026. See details.
Dr. Keya Locke welcomes Drs. Ana Maria Crawford and Elizabeth Drum, guest editors of April's ASA Monitor, to discuss global health. Listen in as they consider how medicine is changing across the globe, why anesthesiologists are well placed to lead, and what can be done to expand patient care. Recorded February 2026. See details.
Dr. Edward Mariano, co-chair of ASA’s Acute Pain Taskforce, discusses ASA’s new guideline on acute postoperative pain management with Dr. Adam Striker. Find out why this new guideline is needed, who the recommendations are for, what’s changed, and more. Recorded February 2026. See details.
ASA’s president, Dr. Patrick Giam, joins Dr. Adam Striker to discuss the specialty, the society, and the future. He shares his thoughts on ASA’s plans and anesthesiology’s most salient issues, from workforce and physician wellness to payment advocacy and mentorship. Recorded February 2026. See details.
Dr. George Tewfik, guest editor of the March ASA Monitor, and Dr. Emily Methangkool, contributor, discuss ambulatory anesthesia with Dr. Zach Deutch. Learn how ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are transforming care, how practicing in an ASC differs from the inpatient setting, what is on the horizon, and more. Recorded January 2026. See details.
Dr. Adam Striker speaks with Dr. Jason Chi, editor for Summaries of Emerging Evidence (SEE), about two topics featured in SEE Volume 42A: the relationship between sedation type and the rate of precancerous polyp detection in colonoscopies, and rates of respiratory and acute cardiovascular complications, as well as 30-day mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease who received neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs). Recorded January 2026. See details.
In the first episode of a three-part series on mentorship, Dr. Brooke Trainer talks to Dr. Vanessa Henke about how being a mentor, or mentee, impacts physician wellness and shares the details of ASA’s new mentorship program. Recorded January 2026. See details.
Dr. Eugenia Ayrian, guest editor of the February ASA Monitor, speaks with Dr. Keya Locke about neuroanesthesiology. From awake craniotomy to thrombectomy, Drs. Ayrian and Locke review advances in neuromonitoring and the ways physiological optimization, cerebral protection, and hemodynamic control are evolving patient management in this subspecialty. Recorded December 2025. See details.
Dr. Adam Striker shares clips from ANESTHESIOLOGY 2025 in this special episode. Listen in as TopMedTalk interviews leaders from the specialty. Guests include outgoing president, Dr. Donald Arnold, and incoming president, Dr. Patrick Giam, along with Dr. Mary Dale Peterson, Tom Miller, Dr. Jonathan Gal, Dr. Gordon Morewood, Dr. Sheila Barnette, Dr. Patrick Guffey, and Dr. Samer Narouze. This prestigious group of thoughts leaders discusses workforce, economics, quality initiatives, the treatment of pain, and more. Recorded at the ASA annual meeting in October 2025. See details.
Dr. Zach Deutch interviews the guest editor of January's ASA Monitor, Dr. Muhammad Rafique, and his editorial co-author, Dr. M. Irfan Suleman, about pediatric regional anesthesia. Learn how our understanding of pain in neonates and small children has changed, what new techniques are making an impact, how to establish a pain center for children, and more. Recorded November 2025. See details.
Drs. Diana Mosquera and Patricia Fogarty Mack join Dr. Brooke Trainer to discuss Medicare’s new alternative payment model, Transforming Episode of Care Model (TEAM). Learn what’s driving the change, who will be impacted, how anesthesiologists can participate, and more. Recorded November 2025. See details.
Dr. Steve Shafer, Editor-in-Chief of the ASA Monitor, visits with Dr. Zach Deutch to discuss the changing landscape of accreditation. Discover how accreditation agencies are evolving, where their authority comes from, how USP 797 impacts anesthesiology, how to best prepare for a visit, and more. Recorded October 2025. See details.
Recorded live at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2025, Dr. Jed Wolpaw, host of the ACCRAC podcast, interviews Dr. Joyce Wahr, who offered the John W. Severinghaus Lecture: It’s Not Your Fault! The Cognitive Basis of Error. Learn from Dr. Wahr as she shares her expertise on system 1 and system 2 thinking, and forcing functions that could reduce errors, with Dr. Wolpaw and attendees. Recorded October 2025. See details.
Dr. Adam Striker interviews the co-guest editors of November’s ASA Monitor, Dr. Della M. Lin and Dr. Scott Markowitz, about harassment, incivility, and disrespect. Learn how incivility impacts the specialty, what the ad hoc committee is doing about it, and how anesthesiologists can make a difference. Recorded October 2025. See details.
Read the companion article in the ASA Monitor.
Review ASA’s Statement on Harassment, Incivility, and Disrespect.
Dr. Natalie Bodmer, member of the ACE editorial board, joins Dr. Adam Striker to discuss new guidelines regarding the perioperative cardiovascular management of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery (NCS). Learn about optimal timing of elective or time-sensitive NCS for prior percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Topics include the management of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), what researchers have learned, and more. Recorded September 2025. See details.
Dr. Vilma Joseph, guest editor of October's supplemental issue of ASA Monitor, joins Dr. Keya Locke to discuss 30-day postoperative morbidity and mortality. Listen in as they consider the role of anesthesiologists as perioperative physicians, various causes of postoperative mortality and morbidity, tools to help improve patient care, and more. Recorded September 2025. See details.
Dr. Alexander Choi, guest editor of October’s ASA Monitor, joins Dr. Keya Locke to discuss some of anesthesiology’s most pressing challenges and priorities. From the value of advocacy in uncertain times and the impact of current legislation to the role of anesthesiologists in politics and what ASA is doing to help, this advocacy episode covers the bases. Recorded July 2025. See details.
In the second installment of our series on AI, Dr. Striker presents four short conversations with members of ASA’s Committee on Informatics and Information Technology (CIIT). Dr. Christopher Goldstein offers thoughts on the thorny problem of bias in AI; Dr. Matthew Wecksell discusses cybersecurity; Dr. Jonathan Tan considers the various ways AI might be used to boost revenue in anesthesia practices; and Dr. Hannah Lonsdale looks at trends and the future. Recorded August 2025. See details.
Dr. George Tewfik, guest editor of the September ASA Monitor, discusses the evolution of patient communications with Dr. Zach Deutch. They consider the myth that anesthesiologists don’t like talking to patients, share tips for dealing with patients who have suffered trauma, consider best practices for delivering bad news, and more. Recorded July 2025. See details.
Read the companion article in the ASA Monitor.
Explore ASA’s Enhancing Patient Communication Program Toolkit
Dr. Aaron Primm, editor for Summaries of Emerging Evidence (SEE), joins Dr. Adam Striker to discuss the time-dependent probabilities of favorable outcomes following in-hospital cardiac arrest and optimizing patient position after surgery with general anesthesia with respect to early postoperative hypoxemia, topics featured in SEE Volume 41B. Recorded July 2025. See details.
Dr. Keya Locke interviews Drs. Barbara Rogers and Shobana Rajan, guest editors of the August ASA Monitor, about preoperative medication management. Listen in as they discuss the state of long-standing medication debates, consider new trends and medications, and share thoughts on why the role of anesthesiologists as pre-op physicians is increasing in importance. Recorded July 2025. See details.
Dr. Don Arnold, President of ASA, joins Dr. Striker to discuss the specialty’s present and future. Dr. Arnold shares his thoughts on leadership, ASA initiatives, the challenges and opportunities facing anesthesiology, and more. Recorded June 2025. See details.
In this collection of five ASA Monitor-themed episodes, guest host Dr. Crystal Wright discusses mentoring, coaching, and negotiation with anesthesiologists who contributed to the ASA Monitor’s special section on connecting with purpose. Listen in as Drs. Markowitz, Solomon, Tollinche, Cheng, Nabipour, and Yost discuss leadership, connections, and the future of the specialty. Recorded February – March 2021.
Curated by: the ASA Marketing and Communications department
Date of last update: February 9, 2026