ROSEMONT, Ill., Nov. 25, 2019 – When patients meet vascular surgeon Dr. William Jordan, there is a 30 to 40 percent chance they have diabetes, whether they know it or not.

Calling SVS members: Your research is wanted, whether the topic covers EVAR follow-up, how to perform celiac artery decompressions with a supra-celiac aorta to celiac bypass, or the biology behind vascular smooth muscle cell responses.

Submission sites are now open for two annual SVS meetings in 2020, the Vascular Research Initiatives Conference and the Vascular Annual Meeting.

W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. will support a new Society for Vascular Surgery initiative to advance patient safety programs and the quality of vascular care.

Through a general block grant, Gore will help fund SVS quality initiatives designed to improve vascular patient surgical outcomes. These related projects will address key practice factors influencing quality care, including new care delivery and payment models, patient education, costs, surgeon wellness, and the value of vascular surgery services.

Dear colleagues,

We, the SVS and its members, stand at a pivotal time in our history. Health care policy will be at the center of the debate in next year’s elections. It is apparent that vascular surgeons need to have a voice in our future or be swept away in others’ ideas for how health care should be delivered and reimbursed in our country. The battle lines are now being drawn.

BY PETER ROSSI, MD, FACS, FSVS ON BEHALF OF THE SVS LEADERSHIP AND DIVERSITY COMMITTEE

Vascular surgery leaders are selecting the first 20 participants for the new Leadership Development Program, aimed at accelerating the leadership development of the next generation of vascular surgeons.

SVS is collaborating on the ground-breaking initiative for early-career surgeons (5 to 10 years in practice) with the Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Society and the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery.

Graduated Candidates in Year 4: Transition to Active Membership

With approximately six weeks left in 2019, it’s time for SVS members to pay their 2020 dues.

Dues invoices have been distributed to all members via email and/or mail. Dues must be paid by Dec. 31 to maintain SVS membership and access to the Journal of Vascular Surgery, SVSConnect and other benefits.

The Society for Vascular Surgery has officially launched a member support component of its wellness program, designed to help vascular surgeons enhance their personal resilience and continue development of a compassionate and accountable peer community.

Applications for two SVS Foundation surgeon-scientist awards are due in January 2020.

Applications for the prestigious Resident Research Award are due Jan. 15, 2020. This award — one of the most important opportunities for surgical trainees in vascular laboratories — is for early-career surgeons interested in research on the biology of vascular diseases and potential translational therapies.

Shopping on Amazon? Don’t Forget to ‘Smile’

This year’s late Thanksgiving on Nov. 28 means the “official” holiday shopping season starts a little later than usual. “Giving Tuesday,” the annual day of global giving that follows Thanksgiving and its companion shopping days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, is later as well.