MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Greetings, colleagues and friends.

As the closing months of the maiden year of our fledgling society’s existence approach, we review what had transpired and what we have accomplished in that short period, and there can be no denying the metamorphic impact we have pummeled upon the landscape, which continues to ripple outward in ever-growing circles to significantly influence the way vascular management is approached by practitioners and applied to patients.

We have busied ourselves with a record breaking 28 major activities in the past 11 months, that’s more than two per month. We have reached varied target audiences—our colleagues in the discipline, in surgery, and in the nonsurgical specialties such as Nephrology, Endocrinology, Cardiology and Primary Care; our partners in patient care such as the vascular and hemodialysis nurses as well as with the vascular technicians; our budding trainees and fellows; and  finally to our patients and the public at large.

Bringing Vascular and Endovascular innovations to our members and trainees, making them known to our colleagues, and applying these new approaches and technologies to our patients—these cause disruptions in the existing structure, and inevitably some resistance to change will be felt, particularly from those who many may believe have become too comfortable with the status quo, and are either unable or unwilling to embrace change for the better. I would like to think that this resistance is not so much an inability or unwillingness but rather an unreadiness, since I believe this change is inexorable and will come whether one likes it or not, and they mayhap have been caught unawares by the rapidity of its onslaught brought by our enthusiasm. I pray and look forward to the time when, sooner than later, we all look together at the horizon through the same spyglass, and work together in synergy toward the same objective: bringing effective and affordable vascular solutions to our vascular patients.

The real enemy is the looming vascular disease epidemic that has heretofore been under-addressed due to lack of best equipped and suited personnel, inavailability of the technology, and the inability of the patient to shoulder the costs of vascular treatment.
 
We are pleased with what we have accomplished so far, and we are challenged by what lies ahead. We shall continue to soldier on and face these challenges squarely, fueled by the dream of a united front against a common enemy. We shall continue to be undeterred by the obstacles of uncertainty, timidity and apathy, and rise above petty politics and parochialism; rather our thoughts and actions shall always be guided by moral and ethical professionalism, collegiality, and genuine unselfish concern for the welfare of our patients.

Onward, my friends and colleagues! Mabuhay kayo!

RICARDO JOSE T. QUINTOS II, MD 

President, PSVES