DAS Professors of Anaesthesia
CRITERIA AND METHOD OF AWARD OF
‘DIFFICULT AIRWAY SOCIETY PROFESSORS OF ANAESTHESIA AND AIRWAY MANAGEMENT’ 2011
1. General
1.1 The award of DAS Professor of Anaesthesia is conferred in recognition of a member’s national/international standing in the field of airway management as established by outstanding contributions through publications, creative work or other appropriate forms of scholarship, and through teaching and administration.
1.2 The title of DAS Professor is purely honorific, and conferred by acclamation of peers in the specialty. There are no emoluments. There is no implication that recipients should be employed by hospitals, universities or by any other body in any particular post or role by virtue of this award, or on any specific contract of employment.
1.3 DAS Professors will be invited:
(a) to give an inaugural lecture to the society;
(b) to give other lectures as invited;
(c) to work with DAS Committee to further the subspecialty (eg, by leading on specific projects, subcommittees or guidelines, or to represent the society in various ways in national or international fora); (d) to provide professional leadership, advice and mentorship to the society and to members;
(e) to work to further the cause of the subspecialty.
1.4 Indicatively, one (or exceptionally more) titles of DAS Professor may be conferred each year.
1.5 The award is open to any subscription-paying member of the Society, resident and working in the UK, who has paid the subscription for >3 successive years before application and meets the general criteria in 1.1. above and Section 3.
1.6 This is a UK award, but it is hoped that DAS will in future be able soon to recognise the achievements and contributions of its foreign members (ie, those who do not reside in the UK)
1.7 Members who already hold the title of professor from any other institution or in any other capacity will be granted the title of ‘Supernumerary DAS Professor’ and hold their titles concurrently (see section 6, below)
1.8 On an award being made, the Member recipients are entitled – should they wish to do so - to style themselves as ‘DAS Professor of Anaesthesia’ and may use the simple prenominal ‘Professor’. On retirement from clinical practice, DAS Professors will be referred to as ‘Emeritus DAS Professor’.
1.9 Where a recipient of the award has a relevant connection with a host university, DAS Committee will write to the Vice-Chancellor or appropriate officer informing them of the award and requesting them to extend or reciprocate all due titular courtesies to the recipient (ie, which may include the host university making its own titular recognition).
1.10 It is not normally expected that sitting members of DAS Committee apply for the award (but note point 2.2 below) and those who act as referee for any other application should not apply in the same year they act as referee.
2. Application
2.1 DAS will make a general announcement in the January of each year inviting applications, with a deadline for submission of March
2.2 DAS Committee may write to specific individuals to invite an application
2.3 Applicants will be required to submit, by the stated deadline, supporting information in the domains outlined in Section 4, below.
2.4 Applicants will be asked to provide the names of six supporting medically-qualified referees, three of whom will be asked to provide statements confirming that the candidate meets the criteria outlined in 1.1. The referees should themselves have held a substantive consultant appointments or equivalent for >10 years, and/or hold/held a title of professor, or be sufficiently senior that in the opinion of DAS Committee they themselves might fulfil the criteria outlined in 1.1. One referee will be selected from the applicant’s host institute; one must be from a different institute in the same country; the third must be from a different country. (For these purposes, the devolved nations of the UK do not count as separate countries). Individuals who are retired may act as referees. However, a referee may not themselves apply in the same year for a DAS Professorship.
3. Selection
3.1 In addition to the three referees outlined in 2.4, DAS Committee will obtain references from three further referees. Referees’ comments will form part of any feedback to applicants
3.2 It is difficult to be proscriptive, but indicatively, at least some of the following criteria will be expected for a successful application:
3.2.1 Holding a substantive NHS consultant post (or academic equivalent) for >10 years and/or already holding the title of professor, senior lecturer or distinguished fellowship from another institution such as a university, or other professional society
3.2.2 For UK consultants, holding a clinical excellence award; indicatively level 5 or greater and especially national-level awards will be contributory
3.2.3 senior organisational roles in national or international professional societies, or in the NHS, in universities or other academic institutions (this might include senior NHS managerial roles, or College Tutor or Regional Advisor responsibilities)
3.2.4 roles in the oversight or support of scholarly activity in the specialty (eg, examining at all levels from undergraduate to postgraduate, work for grant-giving bodies, biomedical charities, editorial work for journals, ethics committee work, development of guidelines)
3.2.5 representation on national or international committees overseeing or reviewing specialist or healthcare-related activities (eg, government committees, national audits such as NCEPOD or NAP, work for healthcare organisations such as WHO, UNESCO, etc)
3.2.6 a track record of publications with impact (eg, crudely judged by h-index of >10), or in influential texts of books or book chapters
3.2.7 dissemination of high quality teaching or training (eg, through skills courses or simulators), or which may include establishing programs of education in the UK or abroad
3.2.8 inventions or equipment development, including collaborations with industry
3.2.9 supporting the subspecialty through grant raising activities, which may be academic/research grants or charitable fundraising or industry sponsorship
3.3 DAS Committee will, after considering all the materials, make a recommendation and invite feedback from DAS membership so that the DAS Annual General Meeting may ratify each decision for award of DAS Professor.
4. Application form
4.1 Applications must be made on the standard application form which will be issued by DAS.
4.2 Forms without the necessary information will be returned, causing delay in the processing of applications):
5. Process and Feedback
5.1 All applicants will be ranked by decision of DAS Committee and referee consultation.
5.2 Unsuccessful candidates will receive feedback in the form of their overall rank which should indicate to them, in general terms: either
5.2.1 Their application will likely be successful in future years with some continued effort and achievement; OR
5.2.2 Their application will only be successful with significantly increased effort or achievement in specified domains; OR
5.2.3 Re-application in the near future is unlikely to be successful on an estimate of the evidence provided
5.3 Unsuccessful candidates should indicate if they wish their applications to be considered in the following year, up to a maximum of 3 successive years. Unsuccessful candidates may submit a fresh application with a different set of referees.
5.4 The decision of DAS Committee (and of the Annual General Meeting) is final and there will be no appeals, except on grounds of process (eg, failure to process an application or fraud, or conflicts of interest).
6. Procedure for existing professors
6.1 A DAS member who already possesses – or acquires - the title of ‘professor’ (eg, awarded by any other institution) need not submit a full application but simply write to the Committee outlining their situation.
6.2 DAS Committee will normally confirm the title of Supernumerary DAS Professor so long as they remain fee-paying members in good standing.
7. Foreign (non-UK) applications
7.1 The process is not designed for non-UK applicants, but DAS hopes to develop a suitable system of recognising their achievements.
7.2 It is recognised that, unlike the UK, different countries have different processes for award of professorial titles and different categories of professor (eg, Assistant or Associate or Adjunct, or Full, etc). DAS has no control over use of its titles abroad.
8. Withdrawal of award
8.1 The title of DAS Professor is held in perpetuity
8.2 However, the title may be withdrawn from an individual by decision of DAS Committee, if the holder brings the society or profession into disrepute. Examples of such actions would be: erasure from the General Medical Council register (or its nursing, ODP, or foreign equivalent); criminal conviction; scientific fraud; failure to pay the relevant DAS subscription.
9. Summary of titles
9.1 DAS Professor: awarded to an individual who makes an application by the process outlined above
9.2 Supernumerary DAS Professor: awarded to an individual who already holds the title of professor from another institution and who is a DAS member
9.3 Emeritus DAS Professor: awarded to a DAS Professor in any category who has retired from clinical practice
DAS PROFESSOR OF ANAESTHESIA & AIRWAY MANAGEMENT 2011 - APPLICATION FORM