BY BETH BALES AND BRYAN KAY

Citing the health and the safety of SVS members, constituents and their patients as its chief concern, the SVS Executive Board on April 9 canceled the 2020 Vascular Annual meeting in Toronto as a live event.

The decision was made after monitoring the current trajectory and impact of COVID-19 in the United States and Canada, as well as the likely aftermath for SVS members in the months to follow the peak wave.

BY KRISTINA GILES, MD

I had the privilege of interviewing Alik Farber, MD, the division chief of vascular and endovascular surgery at Boston Medical Center in Boston, where he also is associate chair for clinical operations in the department of surgery. Of course, we all know him as one of the national co-chairs for the BEST-CLI (Best endovascular vs. best surgical therapy in patients with critical limb ischemia) clinical trial.

COMMUNICATING FOR BUY-IN:

BY BRYAN KAY

For a time, it was an issue increasingly knocking on the door of program directors and section chiefs in hospitals across the country as COVID-19 cases escalated in their areas: the redeployment of vascular surgeons and trainees to other areas of care.

It formed a central plank in a discussion over education, training and wellness during the second in the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) virtual Town Hall series (April 3) designed to help the specialty through the worst ravages of the coronavirus crisis.

BY BRYAN KAY

The contentious issue of the limited availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), and what this means for performing procedures, was given a robust airing during the first Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Town Hall, which focused on the early experiences of COVID-19.

BY BETH BALES

The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) started 2020 with plans intensifying for the Vascular Research Initiatives Conference (VRIC) in May, the Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) in June, the launch of the branding initiative and a host of other SVS priorities.

Within eight weeks, COVID-19 had prompted a rapid, decisive pivot to SVS members’ changing and urgent needs. Members faced an upended practice landscape, with elective surgeries banned and financial concerns growing.

BY BRYAN KAY

The vascular world has gone through a dramatic change. The normal to which vascular surgeons had become accustomed has vanished almost overnight. As the realities of the approaching COVID-19 pandemic have begun to crystalize, the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) started to set the stage for what was about to re-arrange the specialty for some time to come.

BY MALACHI SHEAHAN III

My predecessor at Vascular Specialist, Russell Samson, MD, had a gift for writing from experience. Perhaps in fear of being unkindly compared with him, I moved in the opposite direction. My editorials are heavily researched, often for months. I felt that the opinions I’ve earned outweigh those that I simply held. In this piece, however, I will abandon the shelter of research and offer the lessons I have learned from a few unique experiences.

(NOTE: This is a longer version of an article that appeared in the May 2020 issue of Vascular Specialist.) 

Journal of Vascular Surgery: Vascular Experts Collectively and Continuously Share Best Practices in Care Amid Pandemic

ROSEMONT, Ill., April 20, 2020 – Americans’ stress levels are through the roof – from healthcare workers on the front lines to essential service workers to seniors at home to parents coping with upside-down work schedules and e-learning. April marks Stress Awareness Month, making it a fitting time to understand the impact of stress on the body and address stress management techniques to help navigate through difficult times and maintain health in the process.