Landmark meeting (June 14-17) with nearly 1,400 vascular professionals moves the needle with program innovations, slew of new science and jam-packed agenda.
With more content presented than ever before, a family-friendly Wednesday night gathering, the inaugural Frank J. Veith Distinguished Lecture, a hugely successful gala and the vascular surgery community more than happy to be together, the 2023 Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) was heralded as another big success.
“Overall, it was really well-received,” declared Andres Schanzer, MD, chair of the SVS Program Committee, which oversees the scientific content at the meeting. “People really enjoyed themselves,” he said.
“The quality and impact of the science was really high. It was diverse across the whole array of vascular surgery procedures and medical management.”
And, not only was the science and research important, “but I think people really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with colleagues. People are enjoying interacting with each other in a meaningful way around vascular surgery,” Schanzer continued.
“And most importantly, we are being as inclusive as possible with the hope that our meeting participants look more like the patients we take care of.”
Some of the highlights of VAM 2023 by the numbers include:
- Nearly 2,300 total attendees
- More than 800 abstracts submitted
- Fifty-two abstracts at eight plenaries
- Twenty-one educational sessions
- Four SVS special section sessions
- Hands-on learning for the Physician Assistant Section
- Five international sessions
- A total of 271 posters
- Eleven abstracts presented simultaneously with publication in the Journal of Vascular Surgery
- The move of officer voting into VAM’s first few days
This year’s meeting also included a number of new initiatives and events, which proved quite popular, Schanzer said.
Attendees enjoyed an opening night, family-friendly SVS Connect@VAM: Building Community party that was open to all, with food, games and activities. With a successful debut, it will return in 2024 and afterwards as an annual event, Schanzer said.
The inaugural Veith lecture, announced at the close of VAM 2022—which focused on the results of the BEST-CLI trial—drew a healthy crowd, as did several other BEST-CLI-focused content.
Organizers moved the championship round of the Poster Competition to the plenary room on Saturday morning, leading to a robust audience and more recognition for the 10 finalists.
Highlighting sessions that included topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion, plus including “invited discussants” for many of those sessions, also was well-received.
The Program Committee and Postgraduate Education Committee are reviewing the feedback obtained via the VAM 2023 evaluation, Schanzer said.
“So, if you have not completed the evaluation please do so no later than July 14. It is critical we hear from you so we can continue to meet your educational needs going forward,” he added.
