Ensuring vascular surgical training is on the right track

Approval of the primary certificate in vascular surgery eliminated the requirement for certification in general surgery before vascular surgery certification. New training paradigms for training in vascular surgery have emerged driven by the desire to offer greater flexibility of training and to shorten the length of training. Many of these changes are based upon "expert opinion," promise, and "logic" without objective evaluation of the residents or the training programs themselves. To be on the forefront of surgical education, vascular surgery will need to adopt methods of curriculum development firmly grounded in educational principles and use modern assessment tools for the evaluation of competence and performance. This report presents the evolution and challenges to the current vascular surgical training model and then argues for a more rigorous and scientific approach to training in vascular surgery. It presents an analysis of potential avenues for placing education and training in vascular surgery on the forefront of modern surgical education. (J Vase Surg 2011;53:517-25.)