June 24, 2005
Last year’s AARC International Fellow from Spain, Antonio Esquinas, MD, PhD, FCCP, didn't waste any time putting his experiences in the U.S. and at the AARC International Respiratory Congress to work once he returned home in December.

Shortly after the new year he initiated several new programs and activities aimed at sending a “clear message to Spanish health professionals” about respiratory care practices in the U.S. Specifically, Dr. Esquinas, who also serves as the Spanish Governor on the International Council for Respiratory Care , helped put on the first training course in respiratory care in Madrid in February, following it over the next few months with an array of additional courses on everything from non-invasive ventilation and the use of heliox to respiratory care in emergency medicine and transport. 

He is also planning a postgraduate course in respiratory care at the University of Murcia School of Medicine this October and has advocated for the addition of respiratory care sections in two leading Spanish medical journals. Several textbook chapters featuring respiratory care issues are in the works as well, and he’s hosted four forums in respiratory care in various areas of the country, with a fifth planned for July.