Modern vascular trauma and preparing tomorrow's workforce

Modern vascular trauma is complex and requires multidisciplinary care to assure optimal patient outcomes. Recognizing this, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) Associate Member Council hosted grand rounds to explore key issues in contemporary vascular trauma care and potential solutions. Current training paradigms may not adequately prepare either general surgery residents or integrated vascular surgery residents to care for these patients alone. The current iteration of the AAST Acute Care Surgery fellowship program hopes to overcome these limitations with a formal curriculum in vascular trauma. New attending surgeons must actively seek out and maintain vascular surgery skills, which can be done in collaboration with fellow trauma partners or vascular colleagues and will depend on the local culture of each institution. We also share a model of care implemented at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, highlighting lessons learned from a team-based approach to modern vascular trauma care.