VASA 2025 Practicum

On behalf of the Vascular Access Society of the Americas, we extend this invitation for your participation in the Vascular Access Society of the Americas’ Hands-On Practicum on Hemodialysis Access that will be held on May 16-17, 2025, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO.

This will be a one-and-a-half-day activity enabling participants to obtain ‘Hands-On’ experience, observe live surgical/ interventional vascular access procedures and new methods, learn cannulation techniques, view demonstrations of emerging technology and share a platform for open discussions on various approaches to patients with vascular access problems with National and International leaders in the field.

We have developed an outstanding program for physicians that will include:

• Observation and discussion of surgical and interventional vascular access procedures
• Utilization of new devices and learning techniques in animals and cadaver limbs in the laboratory
• Hands on experience with techniques of implanting various graft materials and fistula creation
• Hands training with the use of color duplex ultrasound in vascular access

Allied Health Professionals

Advanced Practice Professionals, RN, LPN, Dialysis Patient Care Technicians and Vascular Access Coordinators

Our excellent program for Nursing and Allied Health participants will include:

• Observation an discussion of live surgical and interventional procedures
• Physical examination skills for evaluating vascular access in ESRD volunteers
• Experience with the use of ultrasound to evaluate vascular access, including cannulation mapping.
• Hands on experience with the use of ultrasound to evaluate vascular access
• Learning cannulation techniques including ‘button hole’ using ‘fistula arm’ and simulators

In addition to these main activities all delegates will have ample opportunities to view and learn about new innovations, different interventional devices, graft materials, peritoneal dialysis catheters, dialysis needles, dialysis catheter, review catheter care and participate in related activities.

Physician Activities

Arena 1.
Delegates spend time in Surgical education laboratory with faculty honing and perfecting surgical and endovascular skills. Activity includes Vivarium and cadaver dissection including experience with exposure, fistula creation, graft placement, tunnelling techniques, fistulography, angioplasty, stent deployment, surfacer technology and HeRo grafts.

Arena 2.
This session will provide opportunity to view live surgical and interventional procedures related to vascular access while interacting with the surgeons/interventionalists and involving in an open discussion with our experienced faculty.

Arena 3.
This area will provide hands on training with use of duplex US and techniques of vessel mapping, access flow evaluation, managing access complications such as Aneurysm evaluation etc. using our ESRD volunteers. Ther also will be several virtual simulators to gain experience with cannulation, US guided and endovascular interventions.

Affiliated Staff Activities

Arena 4.
This area will have cadaver and simulation models related to vascular access, peritoneal dialysis access and cannulation. It will also have devices including various grafts and dialysis catheters along peritoneal and hemodialysis catheters.

Beside these activities all delegates will have ample opportunity to evaluate different graft materials, devices and tools used for dialysis access interventions, cannulation and all aspects of dialysis patient care.