By Beth Bales
Registration for the live, in-person 2021 Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) has begun—and organizers promise you won’t want to miss the meeting.
VAM will be Aug. 18 to 21 in beautiful San Diego, California. Educational programming will be presented across all four days of the conference. The Exhibit Hall will be open Aug. 19 and 20.
The registration and housing kick-off is especially welcome, say Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) leaders, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced cancellation of VAM 2020 and also prompted SVS to move this year’s VAM from June to the August dates.
That move turned out to be a prescient one, as VAM becomes one of the first meetings to be held in nearly 18 months at the San Diego Convention Center.
“We’ve all missed being together in person and we look forward to welcoming you, live and in person, back to VAM,” said President Ronald L. Dalman, MD. He called this year’s meeting “a homecoming for friends of vascular surgery everywhere.”
At this year’s meeting, SVS also will begin the party for the Society's 75th anniversary (culminating in Boston at VAM 2022) and, importantly, enjoying the camaraderie and company of colleagues and friends.
SVS Program Co-Chair Andres Schanzer, MD, reiterated the plea for attendees to take note of the changed structure and programming instituted this year.
“We’ve changed the schedule significantly, moving several ‘traditional’ Thursday events to Wednesday,” he said. These include:
- The Opening Ceremony, 7:30 a.m.
- The first plenaries, including the William J. von Liebig Forum at 8 a.m.
- The E. Stanley Crawford Critical Issues Forum, 10:45 a.m. This year’s Crawford Forum will focus on multispecialty collaboration, “The role of multispecialty practice in vascular/ endovascular surgery: Can we work together?”
In addition, in direct response to feedback, planners scheduled all morning sessions to be conflict-free (except for breakfast sessions) and limited overlapping sessions in the afternoon to three.
Instead of having all postgraduate courses on Wednesday, this year’s three courses are held on three separate days.
“Please remember that if you want to take full advantage of everything we’re offering, make your travel arrangements to be here Tuesday night and leave after 5 p.m. Saturday, following the final concurrent session and the Championship Round of the Poster Competition,” said Schanzer.
Of course, attendees’ health and safety remain the top priority, and SVS has instituted protocols to safeguard them as authorities continue to overcome the pandemic. At this writing, attendees will need to provide either COVID vaccine verification OR a negative COVID test within 72 hours of travel. These protocols will undoubtedly change, said Dalman, so members should check the VAM Protocols webpage often. (See www. vascular.org/VAMProtocols.)
“And, as a California resident, I can’t wait to show off my state,” said Dalman. “The June gloom will be history; August promises some of California’s nicest weather. Bring the family and extend your stay to take advantage of beaches, baseball at Petco Park, San Diego Bay and the incredible number of tourist attractions San Diego has to offer.” (The San Diego Padres are playing at home Aug. 20-22, against the Phillies, and from Aug. 24-26, for those staying later, against the Dodgers.)
For all things VAM-related, visit the VAM website, at vascular.org/VAM.
Exhibitors ready to welcome SVS
It’s not only members who are eager to attend the VAM this August. Industry representatives are enthusiastic to see everyone as well.
More than 60 exhibitors are already booked for the Exhibit Hall, 10 weeks before Opening Day. The slots for industry presentations, including the popular Vascular Live presentations, symposia and industry breakfasts, likewise, are almost full.
The Exhibit Hall is an integral part of VAM. All members of the vascular team, as well as other attendees, will be able to see a wide-ranging array of products of interest to vascular surgeons and their teams from dozens of vendors.
Participants also can take advantage of non-CME learning opportunities, giveaways, training opportunities and networking potential.
Industry-Supported Evening Satellite Symposia will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday’s session is sponsored by Gore; Thursday’s is sponsored by Medtronic.
Industry Breakfast Symposia will be held from 6:30 to 8 a.m. Thursday.
- B1: “Why clinical trial participants need to look like us and how we can improve care for the underserved population living with peripheral arterial disease (PAD),” sponsored by Abbott
- B2: “Paclitaxel safety: A view from multiple perspectives,” co-sponsored by Boston Scientific and Medtronic
- B3: “Clinical insights in chronic coronary artery disease (CAD)/ PAD: Reducing the risk of major cardiovascular events,” sponsored by Janssen Pharmaceuticals
Industry-sponsored symposia are not eligible for CME credit.
Vascular Live includes six innovative sessions about the latest products and developments related to vascular surgery, in a theater-in-the-round setting during Thursday and Friday’s coffee breaks and lunch hours.
These sessions are frequently standingroom only, so be sure to arrive early in order to secure a good seat. Device makers Abbott, BD and Gore are sponsoring two sessions each.
Remember that industry participation in the VAM exhibits underwrites a significant portion of VAM, thereby allowing us to keep registration fees at a much lower rate than other industry meetings.
Please support our industry partners. A complete list of exhibitors and their booth locations will be available as the dates of VAM draw closer.
Meanwhile, the SVS will again host a Scavenger Hunt during Thursday’s opening reception.
The first-place prize is two roundtrip airline tickets to anywhere in the continental United States.