The program for the 2020 Vascular Annual Meeting is taking shape, from the educational programming to the more practical offerings under consideration for the new Practice Pavilion. (See story on page 12)
Topics have been selected and content is being fleshed out for most of the postgraduate courses and breakfast, concurrent and “ask the expert” sessions. The SVS Postgraduate Education Committee, which oversees these sessions, sought diversity in creating the lineup, said Vikram Kashyap, MD, committee chair. “The committee’s objective is to provide timely, compelling and original educational content to all SVS members,” he said.
“We aimed for diversity: diversity of topics, of constituencies, of presenters, of educational models, including didactic sessions, debates and small groups,” he said.
It’s important that sessions address members in all practice settings, he said. “Ninety percent of what vascular surgeons do is very similar, whether it’s a surgeon in a university practice, vs. a surgeon in a community practice,” he said.
This year’s postgraduate sessions include one on emergency vascular care, from the viewpoint of a community practice surgeon and/or when resources are limited. “We feel a lot of people will be able to identify with that scenario and benefit from this session,” said Dr. Kashyap.
Another postgraduate course will focus on pediatric vascular care, a topic not addressed in possibly five or more years, he said.
As in the past several years, the committee sought programming ideas from throughout the SVS membership. “We got lots of responses and many compelling submissions,” with many topics reflected in the final lineup, he said. “We want constituencies to feel like we are listening to them and providing content that’s relevant to them.”
The desire for so-called “non-clinical” topics continues, he said, with calls for sessions on leadership, how to get into policy and advocacy and how to promote wellness. There also are sessions directed at common issues: hemodialysis, venous care and outpatient-based labs. And every session tries to cover care from that provided at a primary site all the way to tertiary facilities, said Dr. Kashyap.
“The committee members are really engaged and really enthusiastic about the programming,” he said. “They’re doing the heavy lifting and we would not have a successful VAM without their hard work. I thank them.”
Besides Dr. Kashyap, committee members are: Drs. John Adams, Donald Baril, John Carson, Jayer Chung, Mark Conrad, Anahita Dua, Audra Duncan, Mark Farber, Eric Hager, Benjamin Jackson, Jeffrey Jim, Linda Le, Raghu Motaganahalli, Patrick Muck, Bala Ramanan, William Robinson, Matthew Smeds, Christopher Smolock, Benjamin Starnes and Timothy Wu.
The 2020 Vascular Annual Meeting will be June 17 to 20 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Scientific sessions will be June 18 to 20 and exhibits will be open June 18 to 19. Registration and housing will open in early March. Visit vsweb.org/VAM for more information.