Operative competency and autonomy achieved by senior vascular surgery integrated residents and fellows

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Vascular Surgery

Background:

• Two main training pathways exist for vascular surgery: integrated residency and traditional fellowship.
• Operative case requirements are similar, but graduate competence comparison is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare operative performance and autonomy between vascular integrated residents (VIRs) and vascular surgery fellows (VSFs) in their final training year.

Main Methods:

• Operative assessments collected nationally (2018-2022) via SIMPL OR application.
• Statistical analysis using generalized linear mixed models compared VIRs and VSFs on performance and autonomy.
• Controlled for case complexity and procedure type (open/endovascular); included faculty and trainee self-assessments.

Main Results:

• No significant differences found in faculty or trainee self-assessments of operative performance or autonomy between VIRs and VSFs.
• 4927 assessments from 106 trainees and 94 faculty across 25 programs were analyzed.
• Results held true even after correcting for case complexity and procedure type.

Conclusions:

• Vascular integrated residents and vascular surgery fellows achieve similar operative performance and autonomy by graduation.
• Both training paradigms yield equivalent competence, indicating similar readiness for independent practice.