Vascular Surgery Fellowship Goals and Objectives
Overall Compentency Goals and Objectives for Vascular Surgery
Vascular Surgery is the surgical specialty involving diseases of the arterial, venous, and lymphatic circulatory systems, exclusive of those circulatory vessels intrinsic to the heart and intracranial vessels. Specialists in this discipline must demonstrate not only the knowledge, skills, and understanding of the medical science relative to the vascular system, but also the acquisition of mature technical skills and surgical judgment.
Organizational Structure
Vascular Surgery is an integrated Division of the Department of Surgery and provides educational experience to both Surgery Residents and Vascular Surgery Fellows of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga. Graduate Medical Education within the Department is overseen in its entirety by the Chair of the Department of Surgery. Specific teaching structure and procedures regarding vascular surgery are implemented by the Vascular Surgery Program Director with the assistance of the department's Graduate Medical Education Committee.
Essentially, the core vascular surgery faculty practice general and vascular surgery and the breadth of procedures that entails. Faculty and resident administrative support for vascular surgery teaching is provided via the Department of Surgery through the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga and Erlanger Health System with a complement of support staff (Surgery Program Manager, administrative assistants, and secretarial staff).
General Competencies
The six General Competency Areas developed by the ACGME have been incorporated into
the overall curriculum of the Department of Surgery. The competencies are also part
of the resident evaluations. The general competencies are patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal
and communication skills, professionalisim, and systems-based practice.
Scheduled Conferences
The following conferences are fully integrated in the General Surgery Residency and will frequently involve vascular surgery, vascular medicine or endovascular topics. The Friday morning conference is made up completely of vascular topics. These include:
- Tuesday mornings: Basic Science Conference
- Wednesday mornings: Grand Rounds
- Thursday mornings: Morbidity and Mortality Conference
- Friday mornings: Vascular Case Conference
- Monthly Journal Club
Scheduled Teaching Rounds
Vascular surgery teaching rounds are conducted by the Senior Vascular Resident every morning. This includes walking rounds, arteriogram presentations, and bedside teaching.
Vascular Journals Available to Residents
The following is a list of journals available to the residents and medical students on a routine basis to assist with their didactic training in vascular surgery:
- Annals of Surgery
- New England Journal of Medicine
- Journal of the American College of Surgeons
- Journal of Vascular Surgery
- Annals of Vascular Surgery
- Seminars in Vascular Surgery
- Journal of Endovascular Surgery
- Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology