Behind the Scenes at Expert Venous Management 2018

Behind the scenes at Expert Venous Management 2018

Welcome to the VEIN Magazine Podcast —Real discussions on venous disease and treatment.

Our host Dr. Steve Elias shares some whiskey with Dr. Nicos Labropoulos and Dr. Tony Gasparis while discussing EVM and venous education.

How was the Expert Venous Management course started, how is it different, and what’s in store for 2019?

Learn more about Expert Venous Management and Venous Symposium.

We’d love to have your thoughts on this episode and the VEIN Podcast. Leave a comment on our episode page.

Episode Transcript

Dr. Steve Elias: Okay, well, welcome everybody to what I'd like to call vein specialists sitting around, having drinks, talking. Today we have Tony Gasparis and Nicos Labropoulos talking with us.

Most of you probably do know Tony and Nicos and they have been in the education business for a very long time, running their Venus Symposium in New York City every year. Also, they do a lot of individual teaching at their institution, Stony Brook, as well as all over the world. People come to them and they go to people to help teach.

But we are speaking to you today from the first day after a course that's called Expert Venous Management. It's the first day of the two day course. This course was really started to fulfill a need that we thought existed in the vein world.

Maybe Nicos, can you give us an idea about what is this need? Why do we need Expert Venous Management or a course like that versus the courses that are out there?

Dr. Nicos Labropoulos: I think this is an important course because it takes the people to a different level. First, everybody has an equal opinion, is extremely interactive, it’s not based out of lectures, but real clinical cases that we prepare and other faculty brings. And we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of every technique, approach, outcome, without any hesitation and it’s actually fascinating because people they actually talk and they talk about reality.

We don't always agree with each other but this exactly what medicine all about and it's a course that I really truly enjoy myself.

Steve: If you enjoy yourself then everybody is going to enjoy themselves. Speaking of enjoying yourself Nicos, what do you happen to be drinking at the moment? People might like to know what your choice of beverage is tonight.

Nicos: I'm drinking Stella Artois. It’s one of the beers I like a lot and it happened to be here at the hospital. A beer we cannot have in our own hospital but it's good to be at Jersey for this reason.

Steve: Right. In Jersey we have beer during our hospital. In New York you guys are not allowed to have it.

Dr. Tony Gasparis: No, we're not.

Nicos: They're going to escort you out.

Steve: Now Tony, when we first starting talking about this idea, do you happen to remember where it was?

Tony: It was at VEITH, we were at the lobby having drinks and we talked about putting this course together. I can't remember though, what was the triggering factor?

Steve: The triggering factor was: I said aren't we all bored about giving the same lectures at various meetings, that we've given for so many times, and it's not becoming fun anymore? So I said can we do something that's fun? Do you remember that?

Tony: Well, this course definitely is fun.

Nicos: Absolutely

Steve: Right. It's fun for us, and it's fun, I think, for the attendees.

Nicos: