SVS and Gore Support Increasing Numbers of Women in Vascular Surgery
The Society for Vascular Surgery® (SVS) and W. L. Gore & Associates (Gore) today announced an initiative that recognizes the contributions of female vascular surgeons and aims to advance the number of women entering the profession. Currently women account for only seven percent of board certified vascular surgeons, yet cardiovascular disease remains the nation’s number one killer among women. In a video released today, Eva Rzucidlo, MD, Chair of the SVS Women’s Leadership Committee and Vascular Surgeon, Dartmouth/Hitchcock Medical Center, discusses the need for more female vascular surgeons with the rising number of women diagnosed with vascular-related diseases.
“Improving the health of women treated for vascular disease will come with greater representation of women in vascular surgery,” said Dr. Rzucidlo. “In order to increase our numbers we look to women leaders and pioneers in our community to address the challenges we face and promote the great opportunities before us in the road ahead. The 2012 Vascular Annual Meeting will spotlight outstanding women in our industry and provide insight to the future.”
The Vascular Annual Meeting will showcase women, as three female vascular surgeons will be awarded the SVS Women's Leadership Training Grant, supported by Gore. On Saturday, June 9, from 6:30 - 8:00 am, a special Women’s Leadership Roundtable will feature female leaders in a roundtable discussion of issues critical to women’s leadership. The roundtable will include past winners of the training grant, the President and CEO of Gore, Terri Kelly and Dorothy Abel, FDA, Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
“We need great talent from all sources in order to advance technology and improve education in the treatment of vascular disease. Gore is proud to join the Society for Vascular Surgery in honoring outstanding female surgeons and increasing the percentage of women in the profession,” said Kelly. “We are committed to improving the lives of patients and feel women play a critical role in supporting these efforts.”
About W. L. Gore & Associates
The Gore Medical Products Division has provided creative therapeutic solutions to complex medical problems for more than 35 years. During that time, more than 30 million innovative Gore Medical Devices have been implanted, saving and improving the quality of lives worldwide. The extensive Gore Medical family of products includes vascular grafts, endovascular and interventional devices, surgical meshes for hernia repair, soft tissue reconstruction, staple line reinforcement and sutures for use in vascular, cardiac and general surgery. Gore was recently named one of the best companies to work for by Fortune magazine for the 15th consecutive year. For more information, visit www.goremedical.com.
About the Society for Vascular Surgery
The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) is a not-for-profit professional medical society, composed primarily of vascular surgeons, that seeks to advance excellence and innovation in vascular health through education, advocacy, research, and public awareness. SVS is the national advocate for 3,550 specialty-trained vascular surgeons and other medical professionals who are dedicated to the prevention and cure of vascular disease. Visit its Web site at www.VascularWeb.org® and follow SVS on Twitter by searching for VascularHealth or at http://twitter.com/VascularHealth.
