THE VASCULAR SURGERY RESIDENCY PROGRAM

The OHSU Vascular Surgical Residency was initially approved by the Residency Review Committee in 1984. The most recent five-year renewal application was approved in 1999. The Program will be revisited for regularly scheduled re-accreditation by the Residency Review Committee in Vascular Surgery in February 2005.

The Vascular Surgical Residency at OHSU is two years. The first year is primarily a non-clinical year. There is emphasis on clinical and/or bench research depending on resident interest. Exposure to endovascular procedures and instruction in the vascular laboratory also begin in the first year of the Vascular Surgical Residency. The second year of the residency is entirely clinical, with emphasis on both open and endovascular operative procedures. The open surgeries for the Vascular Surgical Resident are experienced only at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital.

The Vascular Surgical Service at the University Hospital currently consists of four full-time academic faculty, one part-time academic faculty and four part-time community faculty. The clinical resident in vascular surgery, PGY 4 and PGY 2 general surgical residents, and a PGY 1 general surgical resident, as well as the vascular faculty, comprise the vascular surgical team.

There are three levels of call: Attending, Senior Resident, and Junior Resident. A vascular surgical Attending is available at all times. The first and second year vascular residents, along with the PGY 4 general surgery resident, alternate Senior Resident call. Call averages 1-2 nights per week and 1 out of every 3 weekends. Junior level resident call alternates between the PGY 1 and PGY 2 residents. All call, for both senior and junior level residents, is from home. There is no in-house call.

The Vascular Surgical Service at Oregon Health & Science University runs two outpatient clinics per week: a full day of clinic on Wednesday and a half day of clinic on Tuesday. All clinics are attended by every vascular and general surgical resident on service, as well as vascular staff. Currently the Division of Vascular Surgery has full day operating blocks on Tuesday, two full operating blocks on Thursday and a full operating block on Friday. The service also operates approximately two out of three Mondays and one out of three Wednesdays.

The Clinical Vascular Surgical Service at OHSU performs approximately 500 major open arterial reconstructions per year in addition to a similar number of smaller cases. Residents on the Vascular Surgical Service perform important portions of virtually all major cases.

Information from the Residency Review Committee in Surgery indicates the OHSU vascular resident is performing operations at or above the 50th percentile, in terms of number, in all case categories recognized by the RRC. The overall operative experience of the OHSU vascular resident is at the 70th percentile. For lower extremity revascularization, an area of major emphasis for our service, the experience is at the 95-99th percentile. Graduating residents regularly score over the 90th percentile in most areas of the vascular surgery written examination. Of the five full time academic faculty, two are assigned full time to the VA Hospital and three to the OHSU Hospital. The VA Hospital performs more than 400 vascular cases per year and provides the clinical vascular surgical experience for general surgery PGY 5 residents.

Each first year vascular resident also spends three months on the Dotter Institute’s Interventional Radiology Service where they gain experience with angiography, angioplasty/stenting, and other catheter-based techniques. In addition, both first and second year vascular residents participate throughout the year with vascular attending staff in endovascular procedures at Emanuel Hospital, a facility affiliated with the OHSU general surgical residency and located about 10 minutes by car from OHSU Hospital.

The Division of Vascular Surgery has laboratory facilities for residents interested in pursuing bench research. The division also has a complete library, a private conference room, and spacious resident and faculty offices. The division employs two individuals dedicated to clinical and industry research, as well as a senior nurse vascular technologist to coordinate activities with the Vascular Laboratory. An additional nurse manager, responsible only to vascular surgery, helps coordinate the vascular clinics and outpatient care of vascular surgical patients.

Clinical vascular surgical research at OHSU focuses on outcomes of vascular surgical procedures, noninvasive vascular diagnosis and functional outcome/quality of life in vascular surgical patients. Currently, the division has ongoing grant support for clinical and basic vascular surgical research, as well as industry research. OHSU vascular residents have regularly presented their work at regional and national vascular society meetings. The Division of Vascular Surgery averages 15-20 publications per year.

The Vascular Laboratory at OHSU is managed by the Division of Vascular Surgery. The OHSU Vascular Laboratory is partnered with three additional vascular laboratories in Portland. Together, these facilities perform over 20,000 vascular laboratory examinations per year and employ 16-18 vascular technologists.

The division sponsors a weekly clinical conference; and, from September through May, weekly lectures are given by invited faculty. Journal Club alternates every other Wednesday morning with vascular research conference.

Portland, Oregon offers exceptional quality of living. Besides all of the benefits of a major metropolitan area, Portland is less than two hours from Pacific Ocean beaches, less than one hour from The Cascade Mountain ski areas, and boarders the Columbia River Gorge. All of these areas offer a myriad of outdoor recreational activities.

The Residency in Vascular Surgery at OHSU participates in the Vascular Surgery Matching Program. We are interested in finding the best candidate to fill our resident position. About 40% of our vascular residents have been extramural applicants.

If your qualifications are in order, arrangements will be made for an interview. You should expect to arrive on a Friday around noon, spend Friday afternoon and Saturday morning here, following which you are free to explore the region. We wish interviews to be completed by March 31, 2007. If you have any questions concerning the program please feel free to contact any of the faculty members for additional information at 503-494-7509.

Oregon Health & Science University Graduate Medical Education can provide additional information:
http://www.ohsu.edu/som/gme/