[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1170","field_deltas":{},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":578,"width":532,"style":"width: 200px; height: 217px; float: right;","class":"media-image media-element file-media-large","data-delta":"1"},"fields":{}}]]Some advice for the 2017 Vascular Annual Meeting: Come early, stay late.
Why? Take a look at the schedule. There are programs and events scheduled from beginning to end, May 31 to June 3. Attendees won’t want to miss a thing.
Here are some programs of interest on those first and last days of VAM, to be held in San Diego.
- An additional half-day for the Vascular Quality Initiative Annual Meeting, 12 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 30. The meeting continues all day Wednesday.
- A Wednesday postgraduate session on vascular and endovascular surgery focusing on “Those Hard Questions You Missed” on the Vascular Education Self-Assessment Program (VESAP 3).
- A new, free invited session of the International Consortium of Vascular Registries, from 8 to 10 a.m. Wednesday, “Quality Improvement in Vascular Surgery Goes Global.”
- A revamped setup for hands-on workshops on Wednesday (details below).
- A postgraduate course –¬ also on Wednesday – focusing on surgeons’ worst complications and the lessons learned.
- An expanded roster of concurrent sessions on Saturday, including the first-ever session with the Society of Vascular Nursing.
- A new “Aortic Summit” from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday with the SVS partnering with the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The event is ticketed and requires an extra charge.
The above focuses on only some of the offerings at VAM’s beginning and end. Naturally, VAM features a plethora of educational programming throughout.
Hands-on Workshops: This year, 12 workshops will be offered in four separate time periods. Each time period will feature three topics presented in 30-minute segments. Attendees may purchase any or all of the four blocks of workshops. In a change from previous years, no topics will repeat later in the day.
Postgraduate Courses: Six are planned, all on Wednesday. Besides the two above, other topics include dialysis access, aortic complications, carotid issues and a joint session, “Advances in Wound Care and Limb Management,” with the American Podiatric Medical Association.
Concurrent Sessions: Sessions have been added, for a total of 14. One is for surgeons affiliated with the Veterans Administration while another is geared toward young surgeons. A new “guidelines summary” will cover critical vascular surgery topics. Six sessions involve partner societies: the STS, the American Venous Forum, European Society for Vascular Surgery, Society for Vascular Medicine, SVN and the Society for Vascular Ultrasound.
Breakfast Sessions: Nine are planned, including three industry sessions sponsored by Abbott, Boston Scientific and Medtronic. Topics include PAD, vascular infections, the aging surgeon, hemodialysis, venous leg ulcers and a joint session with the European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery.
Crawford Forum: President-Elect Dr. R. Clement Darling III will moderate the E. Stanley Crawford Critical Issues Forum, addressing critical issues in practice management, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursday.
Greenberg Lecture: Dr. Tara Mastracci of London will present the Roy Greenberg Distinguished Lecture, from 3 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Interactive Poster Session: Now in its third year, the Interactive Poster Session has proved so popular that 30 minutes have been added. It happens from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday; that final hour coincides with the Welcome Reception.
See the Sights of San DiegoOf course, another great reason to come even earlier or stay even later would be to tack on a few days to play tourist in one of the West Coast’s sightseeing meccas. The possibilities are endless but include Balboa Park, a 1,400-acre site created for the Panama California Exhibition of 1915-16, home to the world-famous San Diego Zoo, plus several museums; San Diego’s Historic Gaslamp Quarter of restored Victorian buildings; Point Loma and Cabrillo National Monument, where Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo first landed on the west coast in 1542.
Don’t forget Coronado Island, where the movie classic “Some Like It Hot” was filmed; a kayaking tour of La Jolla sea caves, La Jolla Shores, one of the area’s best beaches; a Hop-on Hop-off Trolley tour of San Diego, the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and Torrey Pines State Beach. The San Diego Padres will play the Colorado Rockies Friday through Sunday, June 2-4.
Hotel InformationVascular Annual Meeting events all take place at the San Diego Convention Center. Attendees’ “home away from home,” meanwhile, is the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, adjacent to the Convention Center and filled with amenities guests will love. The waterfront hotel boasts several dining options, a full-service spa, fitness center and pool.
Housing and Registration will open in early March. To take advantage of discounted guest room rates, your reservation must be made through the SVS Housing Bureau. Please visit vsweb.org/VAM17 for information and reservations beginning in early March.