Vascular Surgery Training at USF
The Integrated Vascular Surgery residency at USF is among the original such training paradigms, and we have been training residents since our ACGME approval in 2007. In 2013 we expanded our program to include two positions.
Our fellowship has been continuously accredited since 1992 and accepts one fellow every other year (previously one fellow each year, however, this has evolved to accommodate the expansion of our integrated residency and maintain the robust clinical volume for all of our graduates).
Integrated residents and fellows have shared clinical and administrative responsibilities. We have maintained a strong collaborative relationship between the two training pathways, with the strengths of each complementing each other. All of our graduates have gone on to succeed in academic, hospital-employed and private practices. We are fortunate that the case volume in our group’s practice continues to allow our graduates to not only meet but more often exceed the expected case requirements for vascular surgery.
All vascular surgery training takes place with core USF vascular surgery faculty at one of three sites. Residents and fellows are integral members of the vascular surgery team and participate in preoperative evaluation, operative planning, and execution, as well as post-operative care and follow-up. Trainees have continuous exposure to the inpatient evaluation and management of vascular disorders, ensuring the continual acquisition of skills and experience with progressive assumption of clinical responsibilities; residents and fellows spend one day per week in the outpatient clinic working directly with faculty.
Trainees in their PGY 4 through PGY 7 years rotate exclusively on vascular surgery rotations. Integrated residents complete a total of 18 months of core general surgery rotations with USF faculty, including rotations on general surgery, trauma and critical care, cardiothoracic surgery and transplant surgery.
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Hospital
The vascular service at TGH (approximately 1000 beds) performs 2500 major vascular procedures annually. The practice is heavy with tertiary level cases including abdominal and thoracic aortic reconstruction, distal revascularizations for critical limb ischemia, treatment of infected vascular grafts, thoracic outlet procedures, and AV access, as well as numerous complex endovascular revascularization procedures. There are 2 vascular teams at TGH, each including a chief resident, PGY-3, PGY-1, and ARNP. Integrated residents (PGY 1-3) rotate on each service for 2-3 months each year. The PGY 2 and 3 residents provide comprehensive ICU management under the supervision of the vascular surgery faculty. The service has a dedicated vascular ICU, Hybrid OR and full privileges in the interventional radiology suites. The chief resident (PGY 4, 5, 6, or 7) is expected to lead his or her team in all aspects of patient care. There is a mix of open and endovascular procedures at all PGY levels. Each team covers their own cases in the operating room and in the endovascular suites.
Additional responsibilities include outpatient clinics, vascular lab interpretation, clinical research, participation in didactic conferences, and rotations at our Comprehensive Vein Center. Call is typically 1/3 weekends and alternating days during the week.
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Veteran Hospital
The VA vascular service is one of the busiest vascular services in the VA system; annual case volumes exceed 500 cases. The VA provides extensive experience in carotid stenting, distal revascularization, and aortic aneurysm repair. Both the integrated vascular and general surgery residents cover the service and call is shared amongst the senior residents on the service (Usually senior vascular and PGY 4 GS). There is no general surgery coverage for the senior vascular residents at the VA. Typically there is a PGY-4 and a PGY-1 on the service. A dedicated team of ARNP’s coordinate all of the outpatient care at the VA. Residents rotating on the VA service are expected to participate in all Vascular Surgery Education Conferences.
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Formerly Bay Pines VA
During this rotation the resident will be involved in pre-, intra-, and postop management of the vascular patient (some general surgery rotations are also performed here). There is a wide variety of basic to complex vascular surgery, including significant open aneurysm experience. The resident will participate in a weekly joint conference with interventional radiology to discuss patient management, as well as outpatient clinic. This rotation involves full-time VA surgeons as well as our group.
