Abstract
Membership spotlight
University of South Carolina School of Medicine
Columbia, SC
The Society for Vascular Medicine (SVM) recently launched a new ‘Student Member’ membership category. Any individual in a degree-granting program at an accredited institution is eligible to join, such as college students, medical students, and graduate students. Though a handful of students have been Associate SVM members over the years, Joel Keefe is the first-ever official SVM Student Member. We are delighted that he has joined SVM and would like to take this opportunity to get to know him.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I grew up in the small rural town of Cheraw, South Carolina. I am one of five boys, two of them being my identical triplet brothers. I live in downtown Columbia with my wife Courtney and our spoiled cat named Taz. I am the first in my family to pursue a career in medicine. I graduated with a BS in Exercise Science from the University of South Carolina (USC). After graduation I worked as a pathology technician and then as a medical assistant for a local pediatrician for 2 years. I am currently a third-year medical student at the USC School of Medicine, Columbia. I have been inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society and the Marsh Seabrook Leadership Program.
How did you become interested in vascular disease and what are your career plans?
I have always enjoyed learning about the cardiovascular system, from the anatomy to the intricate physiology. I initially considered a career in interventional cardiology. Then during my surgical clerkship, I discovered a love for vascular surgery because it paired the endovascular techniques with major surgical cases. Now that I am finally on my internal medicine rotation, I am looking forward to learning more about vascular medicine.
How did you hear about the Society for Vascular Medicine (SVM)?
After talking with my mentor Dr Brian Jones (Vascular Surgeon, Prisma Health) about potential conferences to which I could submit my abstract, he sent me a list of national conferences he thought would be a great opportunity to attend. As I went through the list, I came across SVM and submitted my abstract for the 2023 Vascular Scientific Sessions. Through more online research, I discovered the Student Membership category. I joined SVM because I believe it will allow me to connect with and learn from leaders and professionals in the field of vascular medicine.
How can SVM help you in your career path?
I am hoping to attend the 2023 VSS in person in Washington, DC, which will allow me to meet other SVM members to learn about different career pathways in vascular medicine. I would like to get involved in leadership within SVM through the NextGen Committee, which would allow me to work with my school and surrounding schools in South Carolina to promote vascular medicine and shed light on the various career opportunities it provides.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
We enjoy trying new restaurants in the surrounding area, and I always love a good local Mexican restaurant. When not studying, I love to spend my time outside, whether it is on the golf course, the lake, or playing soccer.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, NY
The Society would also like to highlight one of our more senior members, Dr Daniella Kadian-Dodov. In addition to being an active member of the Society and a Trustee of SVM, Daniella serves as Editor of the Images in Vascular Medicine section of Vascular Medicine.
Tell us about your current vascular medicine practice
My practice is a mix of outpatient clinic, some inpatient consults, vascular lab, clinical research, and education for cardiovascular fellows and medicine residents. I have 2½ days of dedicated clinic per week, which consists of arteriopathies (fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD), coronary or cervical dissection, peripheral aneurysm, etc.), which is roughly 50% of cases I see, and a mix of vasculitis, complex venous thromboembolism, peripheral artery disease, preventative vascular medicine, and various causes of leg swelling. I love my patient mix because of the variety and the teaching opportunities on a daily basis. Our service reads most of the diagnostic noninvasive vascular studies and we include rotating interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, and vascular surgery trainees in our reading sessions. This makes for great discussion, and I enjoy having more rather than fewer trainees with us! Most of my research focuses on FMD and cervical and coronary artery dissection. We have several clinical and translational studies that are ongoing for these topics, and we work with our awesome nurse practitioners, Annette King and Beata Mala, to enroll patients on a continuing basis. We have one dedicated vascular medicine fellow at Mount Sinai each year, and we also host two to three rotating cardiology fellows at any given time on our service. I serve as the program director for our vascular medicine fellowship program.
What was your pathway to vascular medicine?
I was an aspiring cardiologist throughout my internal medicine training, with no knowledge that vascular medicine existed, until I met Jonathan Halperin, MD, MSVM (Past President of SVM) as a teaching attending by chance. He opened my eyes to the world of vascular disease and introduced me to Jeffrey Olin, DO, MSVM (Past President of SVM). I knew at that point that I would have a gap year prior to starting cardiology fellowship and was thrilled to be accepted as Dr Olin’s vascular fellow for 2012–2013. When I started my fellowship, I was completely hooked. I loved the breadth of disease in vascular medicine, as well as the incorporation of imaging, clinical care, and research opportunities in a group of patients that are often relegated to the fringes of other subspecialties. I also saw this was an environment with a lot of opportunity to make an impact; it was not super-saturated. Dr Olin offered me a position at Mount Sinai as vascular medicine faculty, and I withdrew my applications for cardiology fellowship. It was the best decision I have made in my career to date.
Who has been an influence on your career?
The influence of Drs Olin and Halperin has been formative in my career, and they continue to be strong professional mentors that I aspire to emulate daily. I credit my writing and reasoning skills to their training. Dr Valentin Fuster has influenced me to invest time in building ‘my big picture’ and to be intentional in my pursuits. In research (and life), Dr Jason Kovacic has been an incredible champion, supporter, and teacher that I am very lucky to call a friend.
I was fortunate to spend a month during my vascular medicine fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic with Drs Heather Gornik, Esther Kim, Jerry Bartholomew, Mehdi Shishehbor, and Marcelo Gomes. I learned the importance of seeing medicine in a different environment, as well as the value that a robust vascular medicine program can bring to the institution. I think time spent out of a home institution leads to invaluable growth and perspective. Drs Gornik and Kim remain important leaders in the field that I aspire to as physician moms, prolific researchers, and incredible clinicians. I have learned to lead with empathy and have patience through their examples. Dr Gornik and Valerie Clark have helped me to grow as a peer reviewer and into my role as editor for the images section for Vascular Medicine.
Within SVM, my leadership skills have grown tremendously thanks to Drs Herb Aronow and Raghu Kolluri, who provided me the opportunity and support to chair the Research, Quality, and Publications (RQP) committee, co-chair the SVM Fellows and Advanced Practice Provider (APP) course in 2023, as well as join the Board of Trustees (BOT). There are so many, many more in the Society who have influenced my career as peers, senior faculty, and leaders – I am grateful to call SVM home.
How have you been involved in SVM?
I joined SVM as a vascular medicine fellow and volunteered for participation in as many roles as I could early on. I have served as a member on a variety of committees within the Society, and over the past few years had the opportunity to serve as Chair of the RQP committee, co-chair the SVM Fellows and APP course this year, and join the BOT. The RQP committee has been very active, and we are in the process of creating a pipeline of documents for the Society that will cover scientific priorities for all aspects of vascular disease. Education is our pipeline for the future, and I am thrilled to work with Dr Mehdi Shishehbor on the next iteration of our Fellows and APP course for 2024. The Society is a priority for me professionally, and for the advancement and recognition of our field. The biggest perk is that our membership represents multidisciplinary providers that are super smart, fun, and enjoy the work that we do.
How do you foresee recruiting the next generation of vascular medicine specialists?
My impression, when interfacing with other subspecialties across the country at various conferences, is that the need for vascular medicine is increasingly appreciated and valued. The limitations of our field remain access, due to limited training opportunities, and subspecialty recognition. A lot of very smart people in the Society have been working on these points for years, and they all need our support to keep momentum. On a member-level, I think the more that we can cross-pollinate into other societies and meetings, and provide high-quality training opportunities through the Fellows and APP course, the more our value will continue to speak for itself and attract new providers. It is also my hope that the research priorities identified by the RQP committee are able to highlight needs for potential sponsors, so we can bring attention to vascular diseases that need new research to advance the field.
Highlights from the 2023 SVM Fellows and Advanced Practice Provider course
The 9th annual SVM Fellows and Advance Practice Provider (APP) course was held in Atlanta, Georgia on March 18–19, 2023. Course leadership included Andrew Galmer, DO as chair and Daniella Kadian-Dodov, MD, FSVM as co-chair for the Fellows course, and Alexandra M Moran, RN, AGA-CNP, DNP, FSVM as chair and Melissa Strickengloss, MSN, NP-C as co-chair for the APP course. Both courses enrolled to capacity and included separate as well as integrated didactic and break-out sessions for attendees.
Highlights of the course included Ultrasound Cases over Cocktails, sponsored table-top sessions, and meal-time symposia by industry supporters (listed below). The course attracted multispecialty participation from vascular medicine, vascular surgery, cardiology, and interventional cardiology trainees and providers. The faculty included physicians and APPs from across the country, resulting in rich discussion and opportunities for networking throughout the weekend.
The didactic schedule encompassed medical management and intervention for atherosclerotic and nonatherosclerotic arterial disease, acute and chronic venous disease, and lymphatic disease. The feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, and great interest was expressed to incorporate hands-on ultrasound training for our next iteration. Please see below for some examples of the feedback we received from our fellow and APP attendees:
Incredible experience. Educational and entertaining course.
High yield points to approach and management!
Great conference overall. Highly relevant and applicable. The hands-on workshop was also excellent.
Please continue the Fellows/APP conference every year.
Very knowledgeable speakers. Good mix of physician and APP presenters.
The panel discussion on leadership and managing cases was excellent.
The camaraderie among all the presenters and everyone around us is so refreshing to see.
Loved the imaging case discussions – would love more.
Would love info about reading US examples and more case studies.
This conference was very well put together and greatly informative with excellent support and recommendations.
We extend a very special thanks to the Veritas staff, including Matthew Helms, Sandy Addison, Jennifer Fitzgerald, Ryan O’Sullivan, and Jen Manthei, who helped make the course possible, and to the many SVM faculty who made time to attend the course, lecture, and interact with the attendees in the hands-on sessions and symposia.
The 10th annual Fellows and APP course is planned for March 2024 and will remain in Atlanta, GA. Please stay tuned for more information and spread the word to your trainees and advanced practitioners! Chairs for the Fellows and APP course, Daniella Kadian-Dodov, MD and Melissa Strickengloss, respectively, will be welcoming Mehdi Shishehbor, DO, MPH, PhD and Kathryn Hays, DNP as co-chairs.
Platinum sponsors
Boston Scientific
Penumbra
Silver sponsor
Gore
Exhibitor sponsors
Tactile Medical
Inari
Abbott
SVM President Dr Herbert Aronow recognized the Fellows Course Chair, Andrew Galmer, DO (left) and APP Course Chair, Alexandra Moran, RN, AGA-CNP, DNP, FSVM (right).
SVM member attendees, faculty, and NextGen Committee leadership.
Imaging ‘Cases Over Cocktails’.
SVM faculty Drs Stanislav Henkin (left) and Mitch Weinberg (right).
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
