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DEI: One speciality, many voices, diverse perspectives
Over the course of the last year, the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) has been on a journey toward fostering greater diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). From the nadir of #Medbikini almost a year ago, the SVS Executive Board has…
Overcoming prejudice and uniting vascular surgery
The United States has been living through some charged times recently. Our profession is not immune to these conflagrations. In recent times, minority members of the diverse specialty of vascular surgery have seen people who look like them come under…
Being queer without proximal or distal control
“What do you mean your partner? Does that mean a man?” These were among the questions one of my mentors asked me when we were discussing my list of pros and cons regarding the vascular surgery residency training programs to…
Patient: ‘Whole body wellness includes the mind and body’
Kathryn Bowser, MD, a member of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, talks to Justin Michel, 29, who identifies as a non-binary trans masculine person, about the patient experience navigating medical care as an…
Does this loofah make me look gay?
I doubt many people remember a specific time they watched C-SPAN, let alone the exact date. But on Dec. 18, 2010, there I was, in my Durham, North Carolina, apartment, watching the U.S. Senate vote on the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell…
SVS: Progress made during year like no other
While the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects dominated 2020–21 fiscal year—including the cancellation of the live 2020 Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM)—it did not deter progress on many important initiatives. “When COVID hit, it intensified our focus on what was truly…
Elevating women in vascular surgery
Over a one-year period, Association of American Medical Colleges data showed that 25% of women in surgery reported experiencing disrespect based on their gender, Melina R. Kibbe, MD, chair of the department of surgery at the University of North Carolina-Chapel…
In the room: Changes aplenty as VAM returns
The Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) is more anticipated than ever after the annus horribilis of 2020 and the pared-back, digital VAM alternative that was SVS ONLINE. While organizers have previously relayed the changes made for this year’s meeting, Program Committee…
VAM: Session on diversity set to feature on Friday of SVS annual meeting
Racial and ethnically based disparities exist in healthcare. To highlight these disparities, and what the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) is doing to address them, the 2021 Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) will feature a special session on diversity, equity and…
When there are none: Why manels are out
On June 12, 2019, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, MD, made a public commitment to decline to take part in panels that “do not fairly evaluate scientists of all backgrounds for speaking opportunities.”1 Collins referred…