Abstract
Dear Fellow SVMers,
Welcome to winter and the latest edition of the Society for Vascular Medicine communication page. It has been a busy and productive year for SVM. We had a fantastic annual meeting in June in San Diego, thanks to Dr Jerry Bartholomew and the program committee. It was a beautiful venue, filled with excellent talks, and a good time was had by all! Speaking of great meetings, we are looking forward to an even better one in 2015. Our next annual meeting will be at the Marriott Waterfront in Baltimore, 11–13 June 2015. Please plan to join your colleagues for stimulating case discussions, state-of-the-art talks, and the ever-popular Vascular Jeopardy.
So you don’t miss out, now is the time to make sure you have renewed your membership. We are also asking all members to make every effort to recruit at least one new member. Many of us work with colleagues who share our passion for vascular medicine or vascular clinical activities. Encourage them to join SVM and take advantage of a network of like-minded clinicians and scientists. Encouragingly, we had more volunteers than positions for committee service. But as the influence of the Society grows, so will the breadth and scope of the committees. SVM leadership is continuing to expand the work of the Society. Everyone who wants to work can be a part of the Society’s success.
Among the many advantages of membership is access to our growing library of enduring educational materials. We are soon to debut an iliac artery disease case-based study review, made possible through a generous grant from Abbott Vascular. SVM board member Dr Herb Aronow and his team have done an excellent job creating a very useful document. And we are adding more ‘Hot Topics in Vascular Medicine’ interviews to our website. These interviews of SVM thought leaders, conducted by Dr Aditya Sharma, have covered a variety of timely topics and have featured Drs Herb Aronow, Jeff Olin, Heather Gornik, and yours truly.
I would also like to announce that SVM was part of a successful grant application along with the Michigan Clinical Outcomes Research and Reporting Program (MCORRP), which was submitted by Dr Geoffrey Barnes, SVM member and vascular medicine specialist at the University of Michigan. This grant is funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer for the purpose of creating tools for patients and providers to improve and facilitate shared medical decision-making around anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation. Congratulations Geoff!
This is a very exciting time for SVM and its members. The specialty of vascular medicine is clearly coming into its own, as demonstrated by the plethora of active areas of research, partnership, and opportunities for our members. We are increasingly being sought out by other societies, by industry, and by educational leaders for our expertise and unique clinical position in the care of patients. SVM always has, and continues, to champion the promulgation of best science, the sharing of best clinical practices, and the advancement of the interests of patients with vascular disease. We are glad you’re on the team, and we look forward to an even more productive and exciting 2015!