AN UNUSUAL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

By Dean Bender, AVLS Executive Director

Dean Bender 2020. Where do we begin when we stop to reflect on the past year’s trials and accomplishments of the American Vein & Lymphatic Society? Perhaps we start with the November 2019 release of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” and borrow a phrase from the late Fred Rogers, “Can you say PANDEMIC?” Who would have ever guessed coming out of our Annual Congress in Phoenix, AZ last November that we would now be seven months into a global pandemic that has reshaped how we live our lives and how we interact with each other daily? Perhaps today’s word in a Beautiful Day would be, “Can you say ZOOM?” Needless to say, the past year for the AVLS has been one of our busiest and most productive years as a Society and, without a doubt, one of our most challenging. Starting with our greatest asset, our members, the Society rallied together in late March and undertook the task of supporting each other with the development of a COVID-19 resource library (www.myavls.org/covid19). Our “A Part|Together” campaign provided members with the information they needed to know specific to the needs of a practitioner in venous & lymphatic disease. In addition to a series of articles ranging from telemedicine and practice guidelines to PPE and financial support, the Society hosted a series of webinars bringing legal and business experts directly to the membership to help guide us all through this storm. While we are still trying to push through to the other side of this pandemic, the Society continues to maintain the resource library and bring current and relevant information to our membership as we are still not out of the woods. Fortunately, throughout this past year, as many were seeing cutbacks, the Society’s membership experienced slight growth at 1%. It is critical that the membership base remains strong and committed for the Society to be able to provide the support and resources for our members. Throughout the MyAVLS magazine, you will read about the various accomplishments of the Society’s various committees. I would like to highlight a few of the most significant here related to each of our core pillars, Advocacy, Research, and Education. Following 18 months of intense work led by Dr. Marlin Schul, President AVLS, the Advocacy Committee saw the release of new LCDs from First Coast and Novitas that, if approved, will significantly improve access to quality care for our patients with chronic venous disease. In research, the Operations Committee led by Dr. Joe Jenkins completed the development of the PRO Venous Registry 2.0. The more modern platform expands the breadth of our research capability beyond superficial venous disease into deep and pelvic disease and more in-depth research into lymphedema and compression therapy. New writing groups led by Dr. Marlin Schul will undertake a variety of research projects for the Society utilizing the data from the PRO 2.0 Registry. And in education, the Society, through a grant from the Foundation for Venous & Lymphatic Disease, launched its first Immersive education course utilizing virtual reality technology. The Immersive Sclerotherapy Course: VR 360,

chaired by Dr. Margaret Mann, launched in May. Participants have been impressed by the “near live” environment, which transports learners directly into the lecture hall and the procedure room to experience actual patient procedures. The unique nature of virtual reality is that it permits the student to determine where their attention is placed during the course and is not limited by the focus of the cameraman as experienced in a traditional 2-dimensional video program. The Society has now begun production of additional educational modules to encompass many phlebological procedures. Most significantly, an international project initiated by the late Dr. Mel Rosenblatt and Drs. Mark Meissner and Neil Khilnani to develop a classification tool for pelvic venous disease, SymptomsVarices-Pathophysiology (SVP), is being introduced at the 2020 Annual Congress. The SVP classification tool will enhance our ability to study and understand patients across the world that suffer from pelvicrelated venous disease. I have mentioned only a few of the Society’s major accomplishments to advance the specialty for our membership, the field in general, and our patients this past year during a global pandemic. We encourage you to stay abreast of the Society’s work through our weekly topical newsletters, our new website www.myavls.org, and the recently launched MAC (myAVLS Community) digital community, where you can interact with other members on a variety of topics and issues daily. These are great ways to remain in touch with your fellow members and to engage in the various opportunities to volunteer and make a difference for the specialty. I also hope that you will take the opportunity to get to know the various staff people employed by the AVLS that bring a variety of backgrounds and expertise to the Society and are dedicated to supporting the membership in achieving the mission and goals of the Society. They adapted and performed well during the pandemic, learning how to work remotely for a few months and continue to function as a team, while taking on the additional support our membership required through the early stages of the pandemic on top of the normal daily activities of supporting the AVLS. While they know I am proud of how they have performed through this all, I want you to know you have a great team at your disposal, and I hope you will take an opportunity to reach out to them and share your appreciation as well. Here we are in October 2020, getting ready to start our 34th Annual Congress, where for the first time in our history, we will not be meeting in person. Yet Dr. Margaret Mann and her program committee have put together a stellar program with over 300 presentations by more than 150 individuals covering all aspects of venous and lymphatic disease. With the technology engaged for the 34th AVLS Virtual Annual Congress, we are now able to provide over 80 hours of CME credit from a single event! Although we are not together in-person, we have added several opportunities for you to gather digitally with your colleagues. We hope you will find these events engaging and entertaining opportunities to support the fundraising efforts of the Foundation for Venous & Lymphatic Disease. Without the support of the FVLD, many of the Society’s successes would not have been possible. We hope you will participate in the various activities and consider donating to the Foundation. While it is important to reflect on the struggles and accomplishments of the past year, I am looking forward to when we can gather again in Denver, CO, October 7-10, 2021, to celebrate all that we have accomplished over this next year. The AVLS neighborhood is full of terrific people dedicated to making a difference in our specialty. No matter the challenges we face, please know that you are not alone, and tomorrow will once again be “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” I look forward to seeing you there!