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.
Review ASA’s Statement on Harassment, Incivility, and Disrespect.
Della Lin, MD, MS, FASA, is a practicing anesthesiologist in Hawaii, having completed her residency at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), with a leadership career spanning over three decades. She is known for her engaging balance of science and her passion for patient safety. Dr. Lin was an inaugural patient safety leadership fellow with the National Patient Safety Foundation/American Hospital Association in 2002. She continues her safety passion as Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) board member, currently serving on the Executive Committee, as an AQI Closed Claims reviewer, and on several ASA committees including Chair of the recent AdHoc Committee on Harassment, Incivility and Disrespect, as well as currently on the Physician Well-Being, Patient Safety and Education and Communications committees.
Dr. Lin is an alumni fellow with the Institute for Health Care Improvement (IHI), Salzburg Global and holds an associate faculty appointment with Ariadne Labs. She has held numerous positions within hospital/departmental leadership and authored books and journal articles about leadership, patient safety culture and community collaborative strategies in perioperative safety and quality. She believes strongly in being “always curious” and the “wisdom of the crowds”. As such, she currently has a focus of weaving these learnings into a crystallized wisdom that holds emerging care models accountable to keeping what matters to patients, their caregivers and the frontline voices alive and center.
Scott Markowitz, MD, MSOL, FAAP, BCC, is an authority in the field of healthcare leadership. He's co-chair of the ASA Subcommittee on Harassment, Incivility, and Disrespect and a retired professor of anesthesiology.
Dr. Markowitz served as vice-chair for professional development and diversity, equity, and inclusion as Washington University in St. Louis where he led major initiatives focused on improving engagement, building resilience, and providing executive leadership training. He currently serves as CEO of Physician Leadership, LLC, and brings his coaching experience to physicians, drawing on his specialized executive coach training from Case Western Reserve University and his master's degree in organizational leadership.
Dr. Markowitz also chairs the curriculum committee for the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative (WELI) of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, and serves as a trustee and vice president of Program for Scouting Colorado. With a career dedicated to helping others grow and thrive, Dr. Markowitz is a pioneer in creating more supportive and respectful environments in medicine.
Adam Striker, MD, FASA, is the past chair of the ASA’s Committee on Communications and is the series editor for ASA’s Central Line podcast series. He is Professor of Anesthesiology at Medical College of Wisconsin, a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist at Children’s Wisconsin and serves as Director of Clinical Operations for pediatric anesthesiology at Children's Wisconsin. He received his undergraduate degree in engineering from Purdue University and his medical degree from Indiana University. He completed his pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at Northwestern University.
Date of last update: October 20, 2025