Fellowships

Peripheral Vascular Fellowship

The vascular surgery section offers a two-year peripheral vascular fellowship. Fellows must have completed an approved residency in general surgery and be board eligible or board certified. The first year concentrates on research and endovascular therapy while the second year is devoted to conventional vascular surgery. The case load covers all of vascular surgery but concentrates on carotid endarterctomies, aneurysm repair, lower extremity revascularizations, and the full spectrum of diagnostic and therapeutic endovascular procedures. Fellows should expect to perform approximately 200 major vascular reconstructions during the clinical year. Experience also includes percutaneous arteriography, balloon angioplasties, endovascular aneurysm repair, and interpretation of noninvasive vascular laboratory studies.

Fellows completing the program are eligible to receive certification of added qualifications in Vascular Surgery.

Length of Program: Two years

Total positions: One per year

Contact Information

Please feel free to contact our offices at the School of Medicine with any questions you may have concerning the Peripheral Vascular Surgery Fellowship Program:

SIU School of Medicine
Department of Surgery
Attn: Rhonda Loyd
P.O. Box 19638
Springfield, IL 62794-9638
Phone: 217-545-8856
E-mail:rloyd@siumed.edu

Vascular Program Information

The vascular surgery division offers a two-year peripheral vascular fellowship, which is approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).  Fellows must have completed an ACGME approved residency in general surgery and be board eligible or board certified.  The first year concentrates on research and endovascular therapy while the second year is devoted to conventional vascular surgery. 
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine utilizes two 600-bed private hospitals, St. John’s Hospital and Memorial Medical Center, which are separated by only three-quarters of a mile.  The peripheral vascular service includes five full-time university surgeons, Dr. Kim Hodgson, Dr. Don Ramsey, Dr. Robert McLafferty, Dr. Douglas Hood, and Dr. Colleen Moore.  In addition, we have a private surgeon on the training panel.  The peripheral vascular fellow covers essentially all of the patients who are admitted to these surgeons.  The fellow is primarily responsible for the pre- and post-operative care of their patients and will be the operating surgeon on over 95% of the cases.

The caseload is varied, covering virtually every aspect of peripheral vascular surgery, but is weighed toward carotid endarterectomies, aneurysm resections, femoral-popliteal and femoral-tibial grafts.  During the year, the fellow can expect to perform approximately 200 major vascular reconstructions.  In addition, the fellow can expect to perform 150 percutaneous diagnostic arteriograms, 75 percutaneous balloon angioplasties, and approximately 25 endoluminal aneurysm repairs.  The fellow is also responsible for interpreting non-invasive laboratory studies, for seeing consultations, for preparing a vascular conference every two weeks, and for assisting in the outpatient clinic.

Ample time is provided for the fellow to participate in clinical and non-invasive laboratory research.  Most of the previous fellows have been able to publish several papers during the year.  The peripheral vascular service operates well-equipped and busy clinical non-invasive laboratories in each of the two hospitals.  Duplex imaging is performed in both laboratories using state-of-the-art color-coded flow scanning.

Fellows completing the program are eligible to receive certification of added qualifications in Vascular Surgery. 

Conferences

Friday Morning Vascular Conference

Vascular conference is held every Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.  Attendance is mandatory for both fellows and residents on the vascular surgery rotation.  Listed below are the four broad topics for this conference.  An index will be provided with the specific topics to be discussed each week.

First Friday - Clinical Curriculum Conference – This conference will provide a systematic review of topics chosen from the APDVS index list.  The format will consist of review and discussion of published articles germane to the topic at hand.  Articles for this conference will be chosen by the first year vascular fellow according to a predetermined topic schedule.

Second Friday - Vascular Research Conference -  This conference will allow coordination of clinical research projects.  Discussions will include ideas for new projects and updates on ongoing projects.  Targeting specific projects for abstract submission to upcoming vascular meetings will be the major focus of this conference.  All fellows, residents and students involved in division projects are encouraged to attend.

Third Friday - Journal Club – This conference will serve as a review of 3-5 pertinent articles chosen from a monthly survey of current vascular journals.  Articles addressing basic science issues as well as clinical issues will be presented.

Fourth Friday - Basic Science Lecture – This conference will be presented by the vascular fellows and faculty from a selected list of basic science topics.  This conference will also feature invited speakers on vascular related topics of interest such as wound care, orthotics and prosthetics, new technologies, innovations in vascular surgery, etc. 

Fifth Friday - Vascular Lab Quality Assurance – This conference will be held quarterly and will include presentation of statistics, results of ongoing QA reviews, and review of difficult or interesting cases.

Grand Rounds

Fellows and general surgery residents are required to attend general surgery grand rounds on every other Thursday, 8:00 a.m.

Vascular M&M/Case Conference

Fellows and general surgery residents are required to attend vascular M&M/case conference. Conference will occur weekly on Friday at 8:30 a.m. The fellows, senior, and junior general surgery residents on the vascular rotation should be prepared to present any patient on the service at the respective hospital. Fellows and general surgery residents are also responsible for writing up these cases and preparing them for presentation.
Attendance at this conference is mandatory.

Contact Information:

Please feel free to contact our offices at the School of Medicine with any questions you may have concerning the Peripheral Vascular Surgery Fellowship Program:

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine            
Division of Vascular Surgery                                                    
Attn:  Rhonda Loyd, Fellowship Coordinator
Phone:  217-545-8856
E-Mail:  rloyd@siumed.edu
P.O. Box 19638
Springfield, IL  62794-9638

Application Information:

The SIU Vascular Fellowship Program will begin accepting applications via in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) www.aamc.org/eras in December 2009.   The following documentation, along with your application, is required for your file to be considered complete:

1. Letter from Program Director
2. Two letters of recommendation from physicians on your staff
3. Dean’s Letter
4. Board Scores (USMLE and ABSITE)
5. Medical School Transcripts
6. Personal Statement
7. Curriculum Vitae
   
   
   

Link to SIU Residency Affairs  www.siumed.edu/resaffairs