DEAR FRIENDS,

I hope that you are well and ready to have an exciting summer period.

I wanted to let you officially know that I will be organising the 4th edition of the FYA symposium in London on January 26th, 27th and 28th 2024.
As you might have noticed, we decided to move towards a weekend format as the vast majority of clinicians who attended the 2023 edition have indicated these days as the most preferable ones for such an event.

This year, following and implementing the successful last year’s edition, I planned to host two full days of case-based discussions and hands-on experience with a lot of interactivity, proper trademark of FYA format, and an afternoon/evening (on Friday) dedicated to the EU Med Tech Shark Tank, for the first time as an in-person event, with selected start-up companies willing to present their technology to the big players on the market and to curious clinicians.

The FYA 2024 edition will also see the Congress format doubled, including a parallel Venous session (one day will be dedicated to superficial venous treatment and one day to the deep one), which will have a dedicated programme, separate parallel room and outstanding international Faculty, assorted by my two new co-directors Prof Stephen Black and Dr Michael Lichtenberg.

As from last year, on Saturday, we will divide the participants in two groups.
• The first one, made by low-intermediate level clinicians (medical students, junior doctors, fellows) and average-advanced level nurses and radiographers will enjoy company-based workshops around different stations with specific time allocated to great hands on activities.
• The second one, made by intermediate-expert clinicians will instead focus on complications during lower limb interventions (based on real-life cases) and on high-level hot topics like BTK stenting, on table perfusion evaluation, robotics and p-DVA.

The two groups will then come together for a two-hour common session after lunch with interesting transversal topics.

The third day, Sunday, will be dedicated to plenary sessions, with a mix of interactive lectures (speakers on the podium will often be interrupted during their talks, as successfully experimented last year) and case base-discussions.

There will be also space for all the participants to come together in the main room for a “super plenary” artero-venous ulcers management discussion, the vascular quiz (great success last year) and the lecture of Dr John Sympson (the first clinician to patent an angioplasty balloon, an atherectomy device and to develop the Perclose closure device).

Logistically speaking we expect to gather around 400 participants from UK and Europe with an already confirmed multidisciplinary Faculty made of over 60 clinicians coming from different parts of the world.

As you can see every talk will have a 30-minute slot, with the actual presentation delivered from the speaker planned to last only 7-10 minutes. The scientific discussion will instead occupy the rest of the time, taking place during and after the lecture.

As from last year, flags will be provided to the participants, in order to participate to live polls included in the presentations. All this to promote the unique interaction within clinicians of different level of experience, very trademark of this event!

We can’t wait to welcome you in London!

Stephen Black
Surgical Lead
St Thomas’ Hospital
London

Michael Lichtenberg
Chief Medical Officer of the Angiology Department
Vascular Centre Clinic Arnsberg
Germany