WHO’S READY FOR A CONFERENCE? D-TEAM

WELCOME

TO THIS SPECIAL AVA SCIENTIFIC MEETING EDITION OF INTRAVASCULAR QUARTERLY

HELLO FELLOW VASCULAR ACCESS PROFESSIONALS.

I can’t say enough about how excited I am to be joining with all of you in Minneapolis, Minnesota this year for AVA’s 2022 annual scientific meeting. The D-Team (Design team) is hard at work planning and evaluating topics for the meeting - and from the looks of it we are going to be having some awesome speakers and topics. These include learning with subjects from pre-insertion, insertion, after care thru home care (including adults to neonates) with many well-known experts in the field of vascular access - and brand-new future leaders in our specialty.

Some of you may be asking, how are all the sessions chosen that we see at the scientific meeting? Well, let me tell you about the science behind it. All the submissions that are received through AVA’s Call for Presentations are compiled, blinded, and then assigned to be reviewed by 3 individual D-Team members. They are scored on the following:

•Purpose/goals statement reflect presentation •Learning objectives are well stated and reflect presentation •Content description is concise and comprehensive •Topic / subject is of interest to the

AVA audience •Risk of commercial bias •Overall submission

If we have new presenters that have never presented previously at an AVA conference, we may have an interview set up as well so that our D-Team can further evaluate the potential speaker and answer any questions they may have about presenting at an AVA meeting.

Total scores are then compiled, and the full D-Team then meets tother to review each submission. Notes from the reviewers are further

discussed and the full team then votes on each submission. The team then plugs each session into an overall schedule. Since the D-Team has already reviewed the surveys from the previous years meeting, they are evaluating sessions to make sure the schedule is covering important topics from the audience’s perspective as well as new topics and speakers. After two years of learning in the form of virtual (due to Covid restrictions) we now have the potential to meet face to face/mask to mask. Those that have attended before in real time know the rich experience and recharge of our vascular access batteries by meeting face-to-face. Experiencing a 30/60-minute breakout session with your peers, general session, perusing the poster presentations or exploring the newest products in the form of our Exhibit Hall - where you can talk with a live person (and see the newest technologies and medical equipment) you will find an amazing experience. Another great opportunity that we all find with the face-to-face meetings is the opportunity to network with each other and put faces to the names we see on various social media group pages every day. Networking is a key component to the experience at AVA’s scientific meeting and you should fully take advantage. Many of the current experts are there and extremely approachable to meet and talk. All I can say is you will be hooked after your first meeting.

When you start to feel the need for something nonvascular access related take a trip to the local areas with your newfound vascular friends. In Minneapolis you will find places such as St. Paul’s Grand Avenue shopping or Midtown Global Market for a Juicy Lucy burger to satisfy your palate and then complete your night at Guthrie Theater or First Avenue for live music. (https://www.minneapolis.org/visitor-information/) I am extremely honored to be your D-Team Chair this year to help make this a great comeback to a live event (with some virtual components). I can’t say enough about the team of professionals I am working with (and the amount of time they are willing to give) to make this a phenomenal experience for all. I sincerely want to thank each and every one of them for all they are doing and what we are creating. I also can’t say enough about AVA as an organization bringing this form of education to us - It should be a great time with something for all vascular access professionals. Warren McGlauflin, RN, BS, VA-BCTM , Chair - D-Team, AVA Scientific Meeting 2022

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E-mail: nursing@linearsciences.com