Dear all,
The year 2025 witnessed the Vascular Society of Malaysia (VSM) members’ involvement in various educational and training activities throughout the year under VSM President, Dr Naresh’s leadership.
Programs
The VSM classroom kicked off in January with continuation of the monthly VSM webinars which was started in 2021, discussing interesting topics and challenging issues in vascular surgery. The monthly fellowship tutorial sessions conducted by Datuk Benjamin continued to capture the attention on trainees and young general surgeons.
Various workshop were conducted throughout the year, from basic vascular anastomosis benchwork, endovascular simulators, cadaveric dissections, to real-time surgery on live patients covering venous diseases, vascular access creation and maintenance, aortic work as well as peripheral arterial diseases. Speakers and facilitators for the programs were mainly VSM consultant surgeons while some surgeons from regional/neighboring countries were also invited.
The highlight of the educational program was the 3rd Borneo Vascular Conference held in Kota Kinabalu in conjunction with the National Vascular Awareness Month which celebrates its third anniversary since its launch in 2023. Other VSM members also organised their own awareness program within their own facilities with public forums, talks and hands on workshop for healthcare providers.
Considering the significant mortality rates from ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), the silent killer of aortic diseases, HKL started the screening program to detect threshold-sized AAA for intervention prior to rupture.
VSM members were also involved in regional conferences and meetings, either as delegates as well as invited speakers. Amongst these, the ASVS held in August was the highlight with a number of VSM members invited as speakers. During the meeting in Singapore, VSM represented by Dr Naresh successfully bid to host the 2028 ASVS which will be held in Kuching Sarawak. We look forward to see participation from local, regional and foreign delegates as well as contribution and support from industry partners for this event in 2028.
Training
In addition to the 11 existing trainees, we have enrolled 5 more young surgeons in 2025 into the MOH vascular fellowship program, which was initiated by the late Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin more than 20 years ago. The current trainers for the program consist of senior vascular surgeons from public, university as well as private vascular centers. Early this year, we have interviewed another 5 young general surgeons to enter the program by July 2026. These will be the future vascular surgeons for the country.
Loss of a Senior Member
On a sad note, the year 2026 grieved the loss of a senior VSM member. Dr Murli Lakhwani Naraindas was one of the founding members of VSM. Condolences to his family on the loss of a beloved member of the family.
VSM is deeply grateful for the unwavering support of industry partners to the society since its inception. Their contributions have been invaluable, both in educational programs as well as support in providing the best of care to our patients. We look forward to continued collaboration.
New VSM Executive Committee
The 2026 AGM was held in April and in accordance to the society constitution, election of a new lineup in the committee is required after the last committee served its term of 3 years. Datuk Dr Hanif Hussein was elected as the new President while Datuk Dr Benjamin remained as Vice President. Dr Michael Arvind and Dr Khang Nan Chuang were elected as Secretary and Treasurer respectively while Dr Putera Mas Pian, Dr Muhammad Syafiq Idris, Dr Kishen Raj and Dr Karthigesu Aimanan were elected as Exco members. Dr Naresh Govindarajanthran will remain in the committee as the Immediate Past President. We hope that all society members will continue to give their support and cooperation to the new exco lineup.
Lastly, VSM extends its heartfelt gratitude to all members who have worked with the committee to make this year a memorable and successful one. We look forward to another great year ahead.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
