1. Before Medical School – There are no specific steps that you need to take prior to medical school to become a vascular surgeon. Instead, this time should be spent on gaining meaningful clinical and research experiences to prepare for the medical school application process. If you think a career in vascular surgery might be for you, then arranging shadowing opportunities with a vascular surgeon is a great window into the life and practice of vascular surgery.
2. Medical School (4+ years) – Congratulations on making it to your first step of medical training! Medical school provides a broad exposure to multiple medical and surgical specialties and is the first experience many have with vascular surgery. Over the four (or more, if a student plans to obtain additional degrees) years required to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree students will have several opportunities to work with vascular surgeons, learn more about the specialty, and craft a competitive residency application.
– Shadowing – If you’re interested in vascular surgery one of the first things to do is reach out to faculty and arrange shadowing experiences. The early stages of medical school, when the content is still mostly preclinical, are a great time for this since it can give you an early exposure to and understanding of the field as well as early mentorship and guidance.
– Vascular Surgery Research – You should look for opportunities to conduct research with the vascular surgery faculty throughout medical school. Conducting this research isn’t just about strengthening a residency application but about engaging with and understanding the data that drive current practice and the future directions of the field. Some students may even choose to pursue additional advanced degrees such as a PhD, MPH, or MS.
– Vascular Meetings – Research isn’t the only way to improve your residency application and identify mentors in the field. There are several annual meetings that welcome student attendance and engagement. These include national meetings such as the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) as well as regional meetings and meetings for specific societies within vascular surgery. Almost all meetings have travel scholarships available to cover some or all of the cost of attendance, so don’t forget to apply! Even for students who aren’t presenting these are valuable opportunities for professional networking and to learn more about the future directions of the field. Students should ask their faculty which meetings are the most appropriate for them.
– VSIG –Vascular Surgery Interest Groups (VSIG) are a great opportunity for aspiring vascular surgeons to learn more from vascular surgery faculty and trainees. This includes early exposure to vascular surgery research, service activities, and clinical experiences. If there isn’t a VSIG at your school any student can work with faculty to start one!
– Clinical Rotations – The specific rotations available in the core surgery clerkship will vary depending on the institution, however a rotation on vascular surgery during the first clinical year allows students to work as part of the vascular surgery team. This gives a realistic and practical understanding of the daily life of a vascular surgeon as well as the scope of practice within the specialty. You should use this opportunity to develop mentor-mentee relationships with faculty and senior trainees that can be sustained after the rotation is over.
– Sub-Internships – The structure of a surgical sub-internship, as well as the available services, vary by institution but these 4th year rotations are intended to serve as an audition for senior students. This is a chance to demonstrate teamwork, knowledge base, and enthusiasm for your specialty. Students applying to integrated (0+5) vascular surgery residency should absolutely complete a vascular surgery-specific sub-internship. Students applying to general surgery with an interest in vascular surgery should also seriously consider completing a vascular surgery sub-internship (in addition to a general surgery sub-internship) as this experience is invaluable.
– Away Rotations – Many students may elect to complete away rotations (rotations at a different institution than the student’s primary medical school) during their 4th year. Although away rotations are not mandatory these are strongly encouraged. Away rotations serve as auditions for the student, providing the student with insight into the daily life of a possible residency training program while giving programs familiarity with students. This can also ensure perspective on the field as a whole and not just one or two faculty mentors. Students should generally ask their faculty advisors about whether, where, and how many away rotations to do depending on their specific goals during residency application. If a student is interested in a specific institution they should strongly consider arranging an away rotation there.
The AAMC Visiting Student Learning Opportunities™ (VSLO®) program can be used to arrange these rotations.
– Pre-intern Bootcamps – After match many medical schools will have “capstone” courses or bootcamps for trainees who match into surgical specialties. There are also national bootcamps like the Houston Methodist pre-intern course specifically tailored to recently-matched integrated vascular surgery residents (https://www.houstonmethodist.org/education/medical/debakey-cv-education/courses/pre-intern-training-for-vascular-residents/). These are designed to combine didactic and hands-on teaching to help you “hit the ground running” on the first day of intern year. If you can’t attend a national event in person or if your school doesn’t offer a bootcamp then there are abundant YouTube videos of past content (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6klpNFgAXqw).
