Five Scholarships Awarded for SVU 28th Annual Conference in Chicago

LANHAM, MD, May 18, 2005 - Thanks to a generous $5,000 educational grant from Philips Ultrasound, Bothell, WA, the Society for Vascular Ultrasound (SVU) was able to award five $1,000 scholarships to five SVU members to attend the SVU 28th Annual Conference in Chicago, June 16-18, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago Hotel.

Earlier this year, in the February 2005 issue of the e-Spectrum online member newsletter, SVU members — who wanted to go to the Chicago Annual Conference but couldn’t afford to do so on their own — were invited to submit to the SVU national office by March 31, 2005 an essay of 350 words or less explaining why SVU should award them one of these $1,000 scholarships to the 2005 SVU Annual Conference.

A panel of judges — Chair Judy Fried, RN CVN RVT and SVU Fellows Kathy Carter, BSN RN RVT FSVU; Pat Marques, RN RVT FSVU; and Donna Blackburn, MS RN RVT FSVU — met by conference call to discuss each of the 23 essays received and to determine the top 5 winning essay writers who each would receive from SVU a $1,000 scholarship check, funded by the generous $5,000 educational grant from Philips Ultrasound, to attend the Chicago Annual Conference. The five essay writers will use the $1,000 scholarship to help pay for their Annual Conference registration fee, travel expenses, hotel room expenses and meal expenses.

The five SVU members who wrote the five SVU Annual Conference essays selected for a $1,000 scholarship are:

• Dusty Filliung, BSN RN RVT, of Ann Arbor, MI
• Martin Orloski, RVT, of Saint Albans, ME
• Laura Roper, LPN RVT, of Seffner, FL
• Suzanne Wilson, PA AD RVT, of Bradenton, FL, and
• Colette Wilkey, RVT, of Battle Creek, MI.

Special thanks again to Philips Ultrasound for their $5,000 educational grant which funded this SVU Annual Conference scholarship opportunity this year. SVU hopes to do this again next year and maybe offer even more scholarships to the 2006 SVU Annual Conference.

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Founded in 1977, the Society for Vascular Ultrasound (SVU) is the only professional organization completely dedicated to the advancement of non-invasive vascular technology used in the diagnosis and treatment of vascular disease. SVU is comprised of more than 3,900 vascular technologists, physicians, and other allied health professionals. SVU offers vascular ultrasound educational programs, publications, networking opportunities, and legislative/regulatory advocacy representation. SVU publishes the Journal for Vascular Ultrasound; a unique and well-respected quarterly scientific journal dedicated to vascular ultrasound, and e-Spectrum, a monthly member electronic newsletter. Visit www.svunet.org.