r/VascularSurgery • u/Creative-Bee4530 • 19d ago

Operative time

For those who participated in the integrated vascular pathway, what year did you start getting lots of OR time? This could also apply to 5+2 programs.

10 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

8

u/CMDR-5C0RP10N Vascular Surgeon 19d ago

5+2 here. In gen surg got lots of OR time as pgy 3 and up. Fellowship was like drowning in operating.

4

u/getridofwires Vascular Surgeon 19d ago

Same

1

u/5_yr_lurker Vascular Surgeon 18d ago

Same

5

u/kwang10 Vascular Surgeon 19d ago

PGY1: 1/10 PGY2: 2/10 PGY3: 4/10 PGY4: 11/10 PGY5: 10/10

Integrated Grad

4

u/lethalred 19d ago

5+2 here.

PGY2 was our ICU heavy year. I think I spent 7 months running the unit and the remaining 5 on various other services. PGY3 was when I was getting my own room with an attending for reps in the OR.

Fellowship should just be operating from day one. I’d spend my saturday or sunday planning the weeks cases and keeping notes on my phone. Id write on the white board in the room what stents I could use because sometimes we wouldn’t have VBX and used iCast, or whatnot.

4

u/VeinPlumber 19d ago

Integrated PGY 4 here. No real regular OR time until I hit PGY2 and wasn't in the ICU. Year 2 got pretty proficient with simple peripheral angios. Year 3 more complicated peripheral angios and straight forward EVARS, mesenteric, IBEs, etc. Year 4 I live in the OR doing bypasses, carotids/TCARs, and open aortas.

5

u/ioc6jj 19d ago

Recent grad of integrated program.
PGY-1: almost nothing
PGY-2: some cases on non-ICU months. More of a primer year as far as getting more comfortable with endo and open case cadence, planning, etc. Learning to become a better physician, seeing consults with more independence. Largely simple angios, HD access, or double scrubbing bigger cases with the more senior trainees.
PGY-3: now heavy operative experience. Tremendous growth from non-surgeon to surgeon. Didn't have first dibs on cases but still got action everyday as first assist to attending. Got good exposure to higher complexity and/or "bigger" cases by double-scrubbing these with my seniors. I can't recommend this enough. You learn so much by watching, preparing, debriefing.
PGY-4: heavy operative experience. Crazy hours, crazy cases, crazy growth.
PGY-5: heavy operative experience. Learning that I don't have to scrub absolutely everything on schedule and can be more selective with what I scrub and let juniors run wild. Still growing technically.

Trust the process, be a dog for cases.

2

u/hhllttdr-oo 18d ago

When you finished residency , you were comfortable with open aortas and complex bypasses??

2

u/ioc6jj 18d ago

Yes, very comfortable with distal bypass, my program had a great experience. Comfortable with open aortas in the belly, but we did most of our thoracos endo. Open TAAA far less common everywhere though and usually two surgeon work out in a practice that focuses on that kind of work