As program director, I welcome you to review our program structure and the opportunities available to those who train with us. We are accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and accept one fellow annually.
Each year the fellow will spend 9 months at the Orlando VA Medical Center and 3 months at HCA Osceola Regional Medical Center, a level 2 trauma center. We have four full-time board-certified vascular surgeons at Orlando VA and one vascular surgeon at Osceola. Both sites will offer a rapid-paced surgical environment for the fellow to become immersed in the field of vascular surgery. The fellow will have the opportunity to operate daily in our well-equipped Hybrid OR suite. We have no residents rotating with the fellow. This prevents any dilution of the operative experience. In addition to the four vascular surgeons at the VA, we have a terrific physician assistant who is a tremendous asset to the team.
Our vascular laboratory is fully accredited by IAC and is staffed by 4 superb technicians. This will allow the fellow to gain the necessary experience to become registered in noninvasive vascular ultrasound.
Our faculty are eager to challenge opinions and to encourage critical thinking. This is essential to fostering the depth of understanding needed for sound surgical judgment. Located in Central Florida's heart allows our fellows to experience the benefit of an ethnically and culturally diverse environment.
Our approach to graduate surgical education is based on the long-recognized need for lifelong learning. In addition to our morbidity and mortality conference, we meet weekly for our combined case presentation, Journal Club, and didactic conference. Research opportunities exist that both the VA and Osceola and the fellow are expected to actively participate.
Thank you for your interest in our program.
Frederick Fisher, MD
Program Director