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The Organization
The Alliance for Surgery and Anesthesia Presence (ASAP) was named in 2010 and became an international society in 2013 under the umbrella of the International Surgery Society (ISS.) Originally founded in 2007 as the Burden of Surgical Disease Working Group (BoSDWG), the multidisciplinary society is made up of surgeons, anesthesiologists, obstetricians and public health specialists dedicated to improving the delivery of surgical care, particularly in low and middle income countries (LMICs).

The History
The BoSDWG was co-founded by Kelly McQueen, MD, MPH and Doruk Ozdigez, MD, MPH, originally convening a small group of colleagues committed to documenting the important role of surgery and safe anesthesia to global public health through the international literature. The initial working group represented many academic groups engaged in international surgical delivery, and included Haile Debas, MD (Surgery), Skip Burkle, MD (Public Health), Dean Jamison, PhD (Economist), Steve Bickler, MD (Surgery), Richard Gosselin, MD (Orthopedic Surgery), Charlie Mock, MD (Trauma Surgery), John Meara, MD (Surgery), and Robert Riviello, MD, MPH (Surgery). Central to the initial mission of the group was autonomy from any one university or organization and collaboration with international groups and individuals representing the great unmet need of surgery and anesthesia in LMICs.

The working group collaborated with the World Health Organization's Global Initiative for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care, The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists, The American College of Surgeons, Operation Giving Back, and the International Surgical Society. The World Journal of Surgery became the official journal of the working group early in the group’s tenure, and has published an abundance of data and reports on rural and international surgery. The inaugural meeting of the BoSDWG was hosted by the University of Washington in 2008. Subsequent meetings were hosted by The American College of Surgeons, Operation Giving Back in 2009 and Vanderbilt University in 2010. During the 2010 BoSDWG meeting in Nashville, TN, the group was renamed as the Alliance of Surgery and Anesthesia Presence Today with the support of Bob Isherwood.

Annual Meetings
The ASAP’s annual meetings have been hosted by the University of California, San Diego in 2011, The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Melbourne, Australia in 2012, The International Society of Surgery in Helsinki, Finland in 2013 (in conjunction with ASAP’s incorporation as an “integrated society” of the ISS), and by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the Australia New Zealand College of Anaesthetists in Singapore in 2014. In 2015, the ASAP annual meeting was held during the World Congress of Surgery in Bangkok, Thailand and in 2016 the group met in Association with the College of Surgeons of East, Central and South Africa (COSECSA).

Leadership
The Alliance for Surgery and Anesthesia Presence became the 6th Integrated Society of the International Society of Surgery on Aug 25, 2013. Under the leadership of Kelly McQueen, MD, MPH, President, Steve Bickler, MD, Vice President, Kathleen Casey, MD, Secretary, Russell Gruen, MD, Treasurer, and David Watters, MD, acting Past-President, the first international, multidisciplinary society committed to surgery and safe anesthesia in LMICs continues growing and advocating for improvements in delivery of surgical and anesthesia care. The members of ASAP have contributed more than 100 peer-reviewed articles to the global surgical literature in journals such as the World Journal of Surgery , online forums like the World Health Organization Bulletin , and more.