June 2006 | Vol. 24, No. 6

President's Message

by Melissa A. Vickery, LPN-B, RVT

Looking Back at the Past Six Months

As you read this message, half the year has flown by and it is hard to believe that June is upon us. The Board of Directors and the staff of SVU have been working very hard these past 6 months to continue to provide value and benefit to your membership.

Annual Conference

SVU once again has provided an excellent educational opportunity during our recent 29th Annual Conference, which was held in Philadelphia, May 31st through June 3rd. The Annual Conference Committee developed an excellent program which addressed current testing techniques and topics that we all encounter in our daily work. One of the highlights of the Conference was the keynote speaker, Benjamin Franklin, who addressed the ongoing challenges of change for our Society and the importance of being a member of SVU. My thanks also to the generous exhibitors who help make our Annual Conference a continued success. I want to take the opportunity for those who could not attend the 2006 Annual Conference, to recognize Kathleen Carter, BSN RN RVT FSVU, who is the outgoing Annual Conference Chair. Her leadership and commitment to providing an educational program that adheres to our Society’s mission to be the source for vascular ultrasound has been most appreciated during her tenure. Paula Heggerick, RVT RDMS FSVU, served as Co-Chair this year and will assume the role of Annual Conference Chair in 2007.

Plans are already underway to celebrate our Society’s 30th Anniversary, which will be held in Baltimore, MD, at the Baltimore Convention Center, June 7-9, 2007. Please mark your calendar and plan to participate in this exciting event, to remember where we started and be proud of the professional force we have become.

Advocacy

The Government Relations Committee, the Board of Directors and the staff of SVU, continue to monitor the proposed changes to Medicare reimbursement. As we have communicated to you since the beginning of the year, these changes if implemented as proposed will have a devastating impact on our profession. We are committed to determining the best avenue to address this and in doing so have realigned our Government Relations budget to accommodate this. We will continue to keep you informed and when appropriate share with you how you can assist in this process and your profession. I continue to urge you to give thoughtful consideration to making a voluntary contribution to the SVU Government Relations Fund to assist SVU in addressing these expensive issues on your behalf.

Membership

In my last President’s message, my recurring theme was the value of being a member of the Society, whose mission is to provide the tools and educational opportunities to competently perform in this dedicated profession, and provide quality care to our patients. SVU has established itself as the “Voice for the Vascular Ultrasound Profession”; we succeed in this through our membership. Our student members, of which we continue to grow in numbers, are our future. It is important as members to identify those starting out in the profession, mentor them, encourage them and help them to succeed in this arena. As a member, we need to identify those who are not currently participating in our Society and share with them the value and benefit of joining. Our Immediate Past President, George Berdejo, BA RVT developed the “Each One, Reach One” membership recruitment initiative that we are continuing this year. It is a simple process that reaps many rewards. If you have the opportunity as an invited speaker, or while mentoring or networking to share your experiences with being a member of SVU, do so. Knowledge of our Society and our Mission is what will enhance and strengthen our membership. If you need free copies of the SVU Membership Benefits and Value brochure to hand out at a meeting where you are speaking, please contact the SVU National Office and they will be happy to send a quantity of the membership brochures and member applications to you. Thanks for all of your help in growing the membership.

In closing, SVU has remained strong over the years because we have passion, energy and commitment. It is the continued goal of the Board and staff to keep that passion and commitment by constantly re-assessing and addressing the changes that our occurring around us. I welcome your comments and your participation in achieving this goal.

My best to all,

Melissa A. Vickery, LPN-B RVT
President, SVU