John R Hoch, MD, founded the Vascular Surgery Fellowship in 1999 and maintains the role of Program Director for both the residency and fellowship programs. The Vascular Surgery Fellowship is an ACGME-approved two-year clinical residency program consisting of training opportunities at both UW Hospital and William S. Middleton Memorial VA Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. The vascular fellow will also be exposed to the management of vein disease through our facilities at Meriter Hospital. The current training paradigm is two years of clinical training in vascular surgery and endovascular intervention. Successful candidates will have completed an ACGME-accredited general surgery residency prior to beginning their vascular training. Applications are accepted only through ERAS; at least three letters of reference are requested.
Our goal for this fellowship is to provide a cutting-edge learning environment and world-class teaching faculty that will enrich the competency of vascular surgery fellows in basic science and clinical curriculum while complying with the 80-hour work week. Our faculty members are committed to providing the vascular residents with the tools and training needed to succeed in the specialty of vascular surgery. We are proud that 100 percent of our trainees have passed their American Board of Surgery Certifying Exam in Vascular Surgery on their first attempt.
Vascular fellows will have the opportunity to develop excellent skills in routine and complex open vascular surgery, diagnostic arteriography, endovascular intervention of aneurysmal and occlusive disease, and the interpretation of non-invasive vascular laboratory studies. The vascular residents will conduct a clinical research project with a vascular surgery faculty mentor and will also be responsible for managing the weekly teaching conference and monthly journal club.
Structure of Training
First Year
The first-year vascular fellow will be responsible for the pre-and post-operative care of patients undergoing endovascular diagnostic and interventional procedures at UW Hospital and the VA Hospital. The vascular fellows, under the supervision of the faculty members of the Division of Vascular Surgery, perform nearly 100 percent of the diagnostic arteriograms and percutaneous peripheral vascular interventions performed at UW Hospital and the VA Hospital. The first-year vascular fellow interprets non-invasive vascular laboratory studies daily at the VA Hospital and on a rotating basis at UW Hospital. The first-year vascular fellow spends one-half to one day per week performing hands-on studies in the vascular laboratory for the first six months. The vascular fellow is expected to take the ARDMS Registered Physician Vascular Interpretation (RPVI) Exam at the end of their first year. The first-year fellow spends one month learning the pre-and post-operative care of patients with vein disease at our vein clinic, and performs endovenous ablation procedures, microphlebectomy and ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy at Meriter Hospital in Madison. The first-year vascular fellow will design a mentored clinical research project(s) and develop critical thinking skills. The vascular fellow will also be enrolled in a Clinical Trials course taught at the University of Wisconsin during their first year. Fellows will not have daily primary responsibility for the floor patients as this is the responsibility of the second-year vascular fellow. Rather, the first-year vascular fellow will round daily with the second-year vascular fellow on the University Vascular Service, participating in teaching rounds. The first-year vascular fellow will manage the clinical service at UW Hospital when the second-year fellow is unavailable. The first-year vascular fellow will attend one day of vascular surgery clinic per week at the VA Hospital. Call responsibility consists of approximately every third night of second call from home during the week; the two vascular fellows share every other weekend call from home. The first-year vascular fellow will have an office at the VA Hospital and will have teaching responsibilities to act as a consultant to the general surgery PGY-4 assigned to the VA Vascular Service. The first-year vascular fellow will attend the UCLA Vascular Surgery Review Course to obtain additional didactic basic science teaching.
Second Year
The second-year vascular surgery fellow is in charge of the University Vascular Service. The service consists of two nurse practitioners, one or two interns, a PGY-3 general surgery resident and the first- and second- year vascular fellows. The University Vascular Service is a regional referral center for thoracoabdominal aneurysms and complex aortic disease, in addition to a large volume of general vascular cases. Our vascular fellows perform a high volume of complex open cases such that their operative experience ranks greater then the 95th percentile nationally. The second-year vascular fellow operates four days per week with Wednesdays reserved for clinic and teaching conferences. The second- and first- year vascular fellows manage the weekly Wednesday teaching conference and the weekly Thursday Indications Conference. There is a monthly Journal Club, held at vascular surgery faculty members’ homes, and a quarterly city-wide endovascular forum, which is organized by the residents with faculty mentors. The vascular fellows are expected to develop their teaching skills working with junior residents and medical students during their two years of clinical training.
Please feel free to contact Dr. Hoch directly if you have any questions.