To celebrate the diversity of our specialty, and get real about the challenges we still face, Dr. Striker spoke with Dr. Antonio Hernandez-Conte about the many ways his identity has shaped his experiences in anesthesiology. Listen in as Dr. Hernandez-Conte discusses where he has, and hasn’t, felt welcome; what anesthesiologists should know about the LGBTQ community; and why speaking up matters. (Recorded August 2020)
Dr. Antonio Hernandez Conte is a partner with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group and practices cardiac anesthesiology at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center (KP LAMC). Dr. Hernandez Conte is the LGBTQ Physician Champion at KP LAMC, the Co-Chair of the LGBTQ Care Committee, and the Co-Director of Perioperative Translational Research Initiatives. He has sat on numerous not-for-profit executive boards including U.S. Figure Skating Inc., AIDS Project L.A., and the Brown University LatinX Coalition. He is currently on the Executive Board of the California Society of Anesthesiologists (CSA) and is Chair of the CSA Legislative & Practice Affairs Division. Dr. Hernandez Conte is also involved in multiple committees with the ASA and is a Delegate to the ASA House of Delegates.
Dr. Hernandez is a graduate of Brown University and the Boston University School of Medicine. He completed his anesthesiology residency at the Yale School of Medicine / Yale-New Haven Hospital. At the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Hernandez Conte obtained his Master’s in Business Administration with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration & Finance. Dr. Hernandez Conte’s areas of research focuses on evaluating cardiovascular disease in HIV+ patients, using enhanced recovery methods during cardiac surgery, and managing high-risk patients with congenital heart disease. Dr. Hernandez Conte has authored over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and abstracts as well as six books. His most recent book is titled Anesthetic Management for Patients with Congenital Heart Disease.
Adam Striker, MD, FASA, is currently Chair of the ASA Committee on Communications, and is the series editor for ASA’s Central Line podcast series. He is an Associate Professor and serves as staff anesthesiologist in the Division of Cardiac Anesthesia at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and in the Division of Pediatric Anesthesia at Kentucky Children’s Hospital as part of the Joint Congenital Heart Care Program. 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.