By Beth Bales

To know where to go, you first have to know the starting point.

“WE CANNOT ADEQUATELY measure our progress in the SVS on diversity, equity and inclusion if we do not have the requisite data to measure,” said Society for Vascular Surgery president Ronald L. Dalman, MD.

He is asking all SVS members to take the simple action of completing the upcoming member census and survey in November/December and help the SVS build a more robust database regarding demographics, and member interests and priorities.

By Beth Bales

Following a year of study and including more than 40 separate goals, objectives and requested actions, the SVS Executive Board has received, reviewed and embraced the report of the SVS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force as a blueprint for response and change.

IT NOW HAS BEGUN THE TASK OF implementing the report and its recommendations, which means integrating it throughout the structure of the Society. The plan, said SVS president Ronald L. Dalman, MD, must be comprehensive and “worthy of the detail included in the report.”

Let’s start with our mission statement: We at the SVS Political Action Committee (PAC) exist as the fundraising arm for the advancement of the legislative priorities of the SVS. Through education and advocacy, we interface with legislators regarding key issues and legislation impacting all vascular surgeons and the patients for whom we care. 

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on surgery and medicine continues, prompting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to propose changes in year five of the CMS Quality Payment Program (QPP). These changes were to take effect Jan. 1, 2021.

By Beth Bales

There’s still time to view presentations from this past summer’s SVS ONLINE: “New Advances and Discoveries in Vascular Surgery,” held virtually from late June to early July. Credits for sessions that offer them are available through Oct. 31.

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED; those who registered during or before the meeting do not need to register again. Separate registrations are required for the Society for Vascular Nursing’s annual conference and the Vascular Quality Initiative’s virtual meeting. Visit vsweb.org/RegisterONLINE.

By Beth Bales

The end of the year is fast approaching, and SVS memberships are now up for 2021 renewals.

Dues invoices have been distributed to all members via email and must be paid by Dec. 31 to maintain SVS membership and access to the Journal of Vascular Surgery, JVS-Venous & Lymphatic Disorders and SVSConnect. Statements will be mailed in early November, for those who need hard-copy invoices.

By Beth Bales

For Laurel Hadley Hastings, MD, membership in the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) provides a great collection of valuable benefits.

THEY INCLUDE AN ONGOING CONNECTION to academia and research, potential mentoring, interacting and working with more experienced surgeons and with leaders, camaraderie, the Journal of Vascular Surgery (JVS) publications that keep her up to date with the latest research and developments and the SVSConnect message board.

Dear colleagues: Before we can look to where we’re going, we need to look to where we’ve been. And we do just that, in the pages of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Foundation Annual Report, available at vsweb.org/ FoundationReport2020.

By Beth Bales

Abstracts for next year’s Vascular Research Initiatives Conference (VRIC) will be accepted beginning Nov. 3. VRIC 2021 is held the day before and in the same location as the American Heart Association’s “Vascular Discovery” scientific sessions. The meeting date and location will be announced soon.

Abstracts for both VRIC and Vascular Discovery will be accepted through Jan. 19, 2021. Registration for the two meetings will open Jan. 6, 2021.

By Bryan Kay

A majority of vascular surgeons are in pain after a day of operating—with open and endovascular surgery identified as the type of intervention causing the greatest level of suffering, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery.