The Vascular Annual Meeting abstract submission site opens Nov. 14 – and Dr. Ron Dalman hopes it is a beehive of activity from then until the Jan. 25, 2017, deadline.
In fact, he said, the over-arching theme of his three years as VAM program chair could be “more participation.”
“We want to make the Vascular Annual Meeting as participatory and accessible as possible. Our goal is for everyone to feel they can be part of it and contribute to it,” he said.
In 2016, organizers selected approximately two-thirds of the submitted abstracts, “good odds for the effort,” said Dr. Dalman. To increase participation, the Program Committee is seeking additional venues for people to present their work, including more sessions and other presentation formats.
Information from every SVS member is welcome, Dr. Dalman stressed.
“If you have an idea, or you recognize there’s a wrinkle in your practice or you have an important observation your colleagues would find valuable, we strongly encourage you to include that as an abstract for the Vascular Annual Meeting,” he said.
The Program Committee’s recommendations for aspiring program participants include:
• Carefully consider which of the 14 categories would suit an abstract best. While the “aortic” category is by far the most popular one, Dr. Dalman stressed that VAM “is not an aortic meeting. It’s a broad meeting. We honor that by organizing themed plenary sessions, with two that are aortic in nature but five that are not.”
• Think carefully about the lessons that can be taught and highlighted from their practices, including improvements in efficiency, quality, outcomes, cost-effectiveness and patient satisfaction.
• Consider video submissions. This presentation type has grown in popularity since being introduced in 2014. Because presenters narrate the videos in real time, the presentations tend to be quite interactive, with frequent stops for questions and discussion.
Each individual abstract may be submitted in only one of 14 categories. However, there is no limit to the number of abstracts, or abstract categories, to which each author may submit.
“The abstract submission process is your opportunity to organize your thoughts, validate them by whatever metric you choose and then share those thoughts and conclusions with your colleagues,” said Dr. Dalman. “That’s the point. That’s why vascular specialists of all backgrounds come to the Vascular Annual Meeting.”