Vascular Training May Serve as Model for Other Programs

The first graduates of the integrated 0-5 vascular surgery residency programs will hit the workforce in July, providing an early glimpse into whether trainees in this new paradigm are as prepared to handle the rigors of practice as those who spent more time in residency.

"I suppose time will tell, Dr. Richard P. Cambria, current Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) president told an audience of thoracic surgeons.

Dr. Cambria, who is also chief of the division of vascular and endovascular surgery and codirector of the Thoracic Aortic Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, discussed the evolution of vascular surgery training over the last 5 years during in a special session at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) annual meeting that addressed mutual issues between cardiothoracic surgery and vascular surgery.

The 0-5 program was inaugurated in 2007 and arose from a variety of concerns. The scope of vascular surgery was rapidly changing with the rise of endovascular techniques, and there became a consensus feeling that this required more time for residents to be dedicated to specific vascular training. In addition there was a general dissatisfaction with the growing diffuseness of general surgery education with its tendencey to train surgeons in an ever-increasing variety of techniques, many of which had no pertinence to vascular surgerons. The session was part of a larger "STS/AATS/SVS: What’s New in Peripheral Vascular Disease Management" collaborative program.

According to Dr. Cambria, the 0-5 vascular surgery residency program allows candidates for vascular surgery residencies to match directly out of medical school into a 5-year vascular surgery residency, bypassing 2 years of general surgery residency.

Over the next 5 years, the performance of the programs’ first graduates will be assessed based on how they score on their vascular surgery board exams, if they are able to meet board certification requirements for the number of surgical cases performed, and where they get hired, he said.

But if the success of the 0-5 training program is measured only in terms of popularity, then it has already succeeded, Dr. Cambria said. Today, there are about 38 vascular surgery residency training programs open using the 0-5 pathway and there are many more applicants than available positions. The 0-5 vascular surgery residency program isn’t just the most popular option for vascular surgeons in training, it’s one of the most popular surgery training programs offered by Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited fellowship or residency programs, Dr. Cambria said.

Meanwhile, the traditional 5+2 programs, which include 2 years of general surgery residency followed by 5 years of vascular surgery residency, have a "healthy" applicant pool but are generally not oversubscribed, he said.

The roll out of the 0-5 vascular surgery training programs nationwide could hold lessons for the cardiothoracic surgery community, which has struggled with an inadequate applicant pool for their training programs.

One solution, according to Dr. Cambria, could be to expand their own 0-6 residency programs, which are akin to the 0-5 vascular surgery residency pathway.

The first graduates of the integrated 0-5 vascular surgery residency programs will hit the workforce in July, providing an early glimpse into whether trainees in this new paradigm are as prepared to handle the rigors of practice as those who spent more time in residency.

"I suppose time will tell, Dr. Richard P. Cambria, current Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) president told an audience of thoracic surgeons.

Dr. Cambria, who is also chief of the division of vascular and endovascular surgery and codirector of the Thoracic Aortic Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, discussed the evolution of vascular surgery training over the last 5 years during in a special session at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) annual meeting that addressed mutual issues between cardiothoracic surgery and vascular surgery.

The 0-5 program was inaugurated in 2007 and arose from a variety of concerns. The scope of vascular surgery was rapidly changing with the rise of endovascular techniques, and there became a consensus feeling that this required more time for residents to be dedicated to specific vascular training. In addition there was a general dissatisfaction with the growing diffuseness of general surgery education with its tendencey to train surgeons in an ever-increasing variety of techniques, many of which had no pertinence to vascular surgerons. The session was part of a larger "STS/AATS/SVS: What’s New in Peripheral Vascular Disease Management" collaborative program.

According to Dr. Cambria, the 0-5 vascular surgery residency program allows candidates for vascular surgery residencies to match directly out of medical school into a 5-year vascular surgery residency, bypassing 2 years of general surgery residency.

Over the next 5 years, the performance of the programs’ first graduates will be assessed based on how they score on their vascular surgery board exams, if they are able to meet board certification requirements for the number of surgical cases performed, and where they get hired, he said.

But if the success of the 0-5 training program is measured only in terms of popularity, then it has already succeeded, Dr. Cambria said. Today, there are about 38 vascular surgery residency training programs open using the 0-5 pathway and there are many more applicants than available positions. The 0-5 vascular surgery residency program isn’t just the most popular option for vascular surgeons in training, it’s one of the most popular surgery training programs offered by Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited fellowship or residency programs, Dr. Cambria said.

Meanwhile, the traditional 5+2 programs, which include 2 years of general surgery residency followed by 5 years of vascular surgery residency, have a "healthy" applicant pool but are generally not oversubscribed, he said.

The roll out of the 0-5 vascular surgery training programs nationwide could hold lessons for the cardiothoracic surgery community, which has struggled with an inadequate applicant pool for their training programs.

One solution, according to Dr. Cambria, could be to expand their own 0-6 residency programs, which are akin to the 0-5 vascular surgery residency pathway.

The first graduates of the integrated 0-5 vascular surgery residency programs will hit the workforce in July, providing an early glimpse into whether trainees in this new paradigm are as prepared to handle the rigors of practice as those who spent more time in residency.

"I suppose time will tell, Dr. Richard P. Cambria, current Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) president told an audience of thoracic surgeons.

Dr. Cambria, who is also chief of the division of vascular and endovascular surgery and codirector of the Thoracic Aortic Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, discussed the evolution of vascular surgery training over the last 5 years during in a special session at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) annual meeting that addressed mutual issues between cardiothoracic surgery and vascular surgery.

The 0-5 program was inaugurated in 2007 and arose from a variety of concerns. The scope of vascular surgery was rapidly changing with the rise of endovascular techniques, and there became a consensus feeling that this required more time for residents to be dedicated to specific vascular training. In addition there was a general dissatisfaction with the growing diffuseness of general surgery education with its tendencey to train surgeons in an ever-increasing variety of techniques, many of which had no pertinence to vascular surgerons. The session was part of a larger "STS/AATS/SVS: What’s New in Peripheral Vascular Disease Management" collaborative program.

According to Dr. Cambria, the 0-5 vascular surgery residency program allows candidates for vascular surgery residencies to match directly out of medical school into a 5-year vascular surgery residency, bypassing 2 years of general surgery residency.

Over the next 5 years, the performance of the programs’ first graduates will be assessed based on how they score on their vascular surgery board exams, if they are able to meet board certification requirements for the number of surgical cases performed, and where they get hired, he said.

But if the success of the 0-5 training program is measured only in terms of popularity, then it has already succeeded, Dr. Cambria said. Today, there are about 38 vascular surgery residency training programs open using the 0-5 pathway and there are many more applicants than available positions. The 0-5 vascular surgery residency program isn’t just the most popular option for vascular surgeons in training, it’s one of the most popular surgery training programs offered by Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited fellowship or residency programs, Dr. Cambria said.

Meanwhile, the traditional 5+2 programs, which include 2 years of general surgery residency followed by 5 years of vascular surgery residency, have a "healthy" applicant pool but are generally not oversubscribed, he said.

The roll out of the 0-5 vascular surgery training programs nationwide could hold lessons for the cardiothoracic surgery community, which has struggled with an inadequate applicant pool for their training programs.

One solution, according to Dr. Cambria, could be to expand their own 0-6 residency programs, which are akin to the 0-5 vascular surgery residency pathway.