Statements of Impact from Research Award Winners
Hesham Ezz, MD
Jane C. K. Fitch Education Award
Receiving the Jane C. K. Fitch Education Award is a tremendous honor and a meaningful reminder of why medical education matters. Developing a curriculum for mechanical circulatory support devices reflects my belief that well-trained clinicians are the foundation of better outcomes for our most critically ill patients. I hope this work continues to empower trainees to approach complex hemodynamic support with both competence and confidence.
Benjamin Gorbaty, MD
Jane C. K. Fitch Education Award
Receiving the Jane C. K. Fitch Education Award is a tremendous honor that reflects the collaborative work of an outstanding team at the University of Minnesota. This funding will allow us to rigorously validate a low-cost, freely available VR simulator against a commercial platform using objective intraoperative performance metrics — work that could meaningfully expand access to high-quality TEE simulation for programs without dedicated simulation centers. We are grateful to the SCA for supporting innovation in cardiovascular anesthesiology education.
Jane C. K. Fitch Education Awardees
| Year | Awardee | Research Study Title |
| 2026 | Hesham Ezz, MD | Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists Mechanical Circulatory Support Core Curriculum |
| 2026 | Benjamin Gorbaty, MD | Testing a Virtual Reality Echocardiography Simulator for Teaching Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography |