Episode 180: Mentorship and Wellness

Vanessa Henke, MD, FASA

Vanessa Henke, MD, FASA is an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at University of California, Los Angeles. She earned her MD from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology MD Program, and went on to residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by fellowships in Critical Care Medicine and Cardiothoracic Anesthesia at Stanford and UCLA, respectively. Dr. Henke serves on the ASA Committees on Membership, Young Physicians and Patient Blood Management, as well as the ASA Early Career Workgroup. Within the California Society of Anesthesiologists, Dr. Henke serves as member communications lead, and she developed and leads a new, free statewide ABA Oral Board Preparation program featuring zoom-based mock exams by CSA members who volunteer as mock examiners and a website with video and written content. As an active member of the ASA Mentorship Program, Dr. Henke enthusiastically encourages anyone interested in becoming an ASA mentor or mentee to visit www.asahq.org/mentoring to explore the program and get involved!

Brooke E. Trainer, MD, FASA

Brooke E. Trainer, MD, FASA, remains devoted to her fellow Veterans and maintains her full-time status as an anesthesiologist, acute pain physician, and critical care medicine Intensivist at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System in Richmond VA. She is also an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Virginia Commonwealth University where she works as a critical care intensivist in the liver transplant and surgical trauma burn ICU. Most recently, Dr. Trainer was recognized for her contributions and interest in simulation education and was granted a national faculty position with the VHA Simulation Learning Education and Research Network (SimLEARN) Division.

Dr. Trainer received her doctor of medicine from the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, completed her anesthesia residency at Yale New Haven Medical Center in Connecticut, and fellowship in critical care medicine at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. She is a US Air Force veteran, having served as an anesthesiologist at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and director for the Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATT). She deployed in 2012, '13, and '14 to Afghanistan from Germany, flying wounded soldiers safely out of Afghanistan back to Germany, then home to the US. In 2012, she was recognized as the top-level physician of the European Medical Command and was awarded the US Air Force European Clinical Excellence Award. Dr. Trainer also holds several leadership positions in organized medicine, including her current role as the president for the Association of VA Anesthesiologists, and has published numerous book chapters in internationally recognized Anesthesia Textbooks.