Education

Letter from Program Director

Dear Interested Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in the Vascular Surgery Training program here at Stanford. We are proud to share our world class educational opportunity with you.

Our mission put simply, is to train the future leaders of Academic Vascular Surgery. To that effect we sponsor a fully-accredited 0+5 integrated residency and a two-year traditional fellowship. Both programs provide a comprehensive exposure to cutting-edge clinical training, research mentorship, professionalism, diversity and leadership provided by and nurtured by our amazing group of faculty and staff here at Stanford.

The Stanford 0+5 integrated residency began in 2008, and has received full accreditation each review. As the fifth program of its kind approved by the Residency Review Committee, we have consistently been leaders in program development, curriculum improvement, and training innovation. A unique aspect of our training program is the experience of a variety of hospital systems. Residents rotate through the quatrenary care center at Stanford Hospital as well as the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Palo Alto, in addition they receive a county experience in Santa Clara as well as a community-based rotation in Pleasanton. At all of these hospitals trainees get a robust, diverse, and comprehensive clinical experience in vascular surgery, with an incredibly large volume of cases across all aspects of our field.

Since 2012 we have included a two-year professional development requirement to our residency program. This effectively makes our integrated program a 7-year training program; vital to what we feel best prepares trainees for the rigors of an academic surgical career and in line with our mission to train the future leaders of American vascular surgery. The opportunities for research training are plentiful and varied at Stanford University, and include involvement of our own T32 Vascular Biology program with over 100 independent investigators that can serve as mentors. Stanford’s world-class Biodesign program also offers opportunities in entrepreneurship and the Department of Surgery’s focus on education provides pathways for education and simulation research. Our current philosophy revolves around the concept of individualized professional development, focusing on personalized mentorship provided by faculty with access to opportunities within a wide variety of clinical and research interests. We believe this educational framework and approach maximizes the future career potential of each of our trainees and have proof of this as seen by a growing list of alumni’s from the program with phenomenally successful careers and leadership positions throughout the country.

Vascular Trainees at Stanford have the opportunity to train at the busiest aortic practice in the western United States while also participating in a diverse volume of other vascular procedures. This includes significant collaboration with our surgical oncology colleagues, spine surgeons, and sports medicine program providing excellent open abdominal operative exposure as well as niche training in thoracic outlet syndrome and vascular sports disorders. They will train with some of the leading surgeons in the field of peripheral vascular disease and complex dialysis management. The multiple practice locations provide the trainees the diversity of cases so that they will finish their training in the 90th percentile for most of the defined categories, and have attained extremely successful clinical careers.

In summary, we believe that the training provided by Stanford Vascular Surgery is thoughtful, rigorous, cutting-edge and comprehensive in terms of our goal of training future academic leaders in our specialty. The collaboration we have with our colleagues allows for world-class treatment of patients, and this high expectation towards patient care and innovation underscores the strong tradition of vascular surgery training at Stanford.

Please contact us if you have any more questions.

Sincerely,

Michael Sgroi, MD Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery Program Director,
Vascular Surgery Residency/Fellowship