Goals of Training

The vascular medicine rotation will provide the trainee with exposure to clinical practice, diagnostic testing in PAD and clinical research in peripheral arterial disease.

The clinics will provide an excellent opportunity to gain experience in educating patients on the signs and symptoms of complications of their vascular disease, establish effective communication with, allied health care professionals and physician colleagues to convey treatment decisions and follow-up plans and expose trainees to up to date cardiac and vascular rehabilitation strategies. Fellows may also work as part of a clinical research team to learn the principles of clinical trial research methodology, which will allow the fellow to establish their own research projects at the completion of their training.

As a result, the trainee will become an expert in vascular medicine with in-depth knowledge of vascular disorders from both a clinical and basic science perspective.

The clinical rotation training goals have been formulated to guide trainees in identifying and acquiring the key competencies required to succeed as an expert consultant in vascular medicine. The rotation provides graded responsibility in achieving these objectives based on the fellow’s level of training and previous experience.

The trainee is able to:

1. Expert

• Gain knowledge in Vascular Medicine including screening, diagnosis management of patients with peripheral artery disease, superficial and deep venous thrombosis and post-phlebitic syndrome, patients with lymphatic disorders.
• Diagnosis and manage acute venous and arterial thrombotic disorders in an outpatient and inpatient setting
• Learn technical and interpretation of peripheral vascular testing including segmental
• Doppler testing/pulse volume recordings
• Learn technical and reading of vascular ultrasound including carotid arteries, renal arteries, aorta, iliacs and peripheral arteries, and obtain enough hours to be eligible for the RPVI examination

2. Communicator

• Demonstrate skills in obtaining a detailed history relevant to vascular diseases
• Perform physical examinations relevant to vascular diseases including ankle-brachial index testing
• Communicate the results of testing to other health care professionals, patients and their families
• Records and implements a patient-centred treatment plan with patients and families
• Effective communication skills with other specialists and health care professionals

3. Collaborator

• Collaborate effectively with interprofessional team members and referring clinicians
• Understand the role of and demonstrate respect for the health care team while working to assess, plan, provide, coordinate and integrate care for elderly patients.

4. Manager

• Demonstrates organizational skills efficiently managing time, daily consultations, follow-up visits and overall work-load
• Judiciously manage medical and community resources recognizing the need to balance cost-effectiveness, efficiency and access for optimal patient care

5. Advocate

• Understand the social determinants of health and differences in patient’s ability to afford secondary prevention medications, and advocate for alternative payment plans to enable them to receive the best care

6. Scholar

• Develop or enhance the skills needed to search for and critically evaluate evidence underlying treatment recommendations in vascular patients
• Participate in knowledge dissemination (i.e. patient information sheets) or quality improvement projects

7. Professional

• Maintains professional boundaries with patients and colleagues
• Demonstrates trustworthiness and reliability by following through on tasks and commitments
• Actively seeks and is receptive and responsive to feedback and evaluation of performance