The Vascular Surgery Board (VSB) of the American Board of Surgery (ABS) has continued to fulfill its stated mission to serve patients, society, and the specialty of surgery by providing leadership in surgical education and practice. The ABS ensures excellence through: building a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture; rigorous evaluation and assessment; promoting the highest standards for professionalism, lifelong learning, and continuous certification of surgeons in practice.
Message from the Chair
VSB Director Transitions
Dr. Kellie Brown will become the new chair of the VSB effective at the time of the Fall 2023 Retreat. Dr. Malachi Sheahan will become the vice chair and Dr. Rabih Chaer will become the vice chair-elect.
Drs. Christopher Abularrage, Yana Etkin, Jeffrey Jim, and David Rigberg were elected to the VSB at the Spring 2023 Retreat using a competency-based selection process. The desired competencies included a non-academic practice setting, experience with EPAs, experience with Blueprint redesign, RRC/ACGME experience, VSCORE experience, and prior service to the VSB/ABS, all within the context of DEI.
Drs. Marc Mitchell, C. Keith Ozaki, and Vincent Rowe will all rotate off the VSB after the Fall Retreat in September. I would like to formally thank them for their dedicated 6 years of service.
Examinations
Vascular Surgery In-Training Examination (VSITE) – the 2023 VSITE was administered 2/10/23–2/11/23. A total of 739 trainees took the examination from 193 training programs including 9 Canadian programs. Notably, the number of trainees taking the exam increased from 713 in 2022 and women comprised 39% of the trainees. The 2024 VSITE will be administered on 2/23/24–2/24/24.
Certifying Examination (CE) – the 2023 CE was administered virtually on 5/15/23–5/16/23. A total of 203 candidates took the exam including 140 men (69%) and 63 (31%) women. There were 36 (18%) international medical graduates. The failure rate was 4.9% and was slightly lower than the past two virtual exams (2021– 5.3%, 2022– 8.2%), but consistent with historical results. All candidates successfully completed the examination and none opted to invalidate their exam due to information technology (IT) reasons. The overall virtual examination process continues to improve from all perspectives including IT, scoring, exam content, and the quality of the images. The post examination survey results were consistent with the past with the candidates favoring the virtual format while the examiners favor the in-person alternative. The 2024 CE is scheduled for 5/13/24–5/15/24 and will continue in the virtual format.
Qualifying Examination (QE) – the 2023 QE will be administered on 9/11/23. The VSB is investigating the feasibility of providing the option of taking the QE during the candidates’ final year of training, provided that they performed above a certain threshold, yet to be determined, on the VSITE and they have the approval of their Program Director, assuming all other requirements are met. This opportunity is currently available to the general surgery residents. Effective next year, all candidates will need to obtain RPVI certification prior to signing up for the QE. This requirement was relaxed during COVID and candidates were not required to obtain RPVI certification until taking the CE due to the inadequate number of testing centers.
Continuous Certification Assessment (CCA) – the 2023 CCA will be administered from 8/28/23–11/6/23. Notably, the selected articles are currently being distributed over the course of the subsequent year via Twitter.
Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)
The EPA Advisory Council (VSB/APDVS) held a retreat with the Writing Group at the Association of Program Directors for Vascular Surgery (APDVS) Annual Meeting on 3/16/23. The Writing Group is in the process of finalizing the Behaviors. These will be reviewed by a scientific writer from the ABS and made available for outside reviewers from the APDVS along with other stakeholders. A timeline has been proposed for the rollout of the EPAs with a start date of 7/1/24 and a tentative pilot study after the first of the year (1/2024) once the general surgery EPAs have been initiated. The SIMPL application will be the electronic platform and it is anticipated that a “toolbox” will be available to the individual training programs. Notably, the first vascular surgery trainees will complete their training using the new EPAs prior to the initial cohort of the general surgery trainees.
Blueprint
The Blueprint revision was one of the foci of the recent VSB Spring Retreat. The testing items from the previous Blueprint were reassigned to the new Blueprint grid, as appropriate. The revised grid will be circulated to the directors and other involved stakeholders. The various testing points will need to be prioritized in terms of how frequently they will be used on the exams. A tentative timeline for the next draft was set for the VSB Fall Retreat on 9/11/23 – 9/12/23 with an anticipated completion date by the end of the calendar year.
Management of Venous Disease
The American Vein and Lymphatic Society and the American Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine continue to work toward their own separate board and training certification. The American Venous Forum is also in the process of developing a Focused Practice Designation (FPD) to allow vascular surgeons additional training and certification. The VSB does not believe that vascular surgeons need additional training or certification to care for patients with venous and lymphatic disease since it already comprises a large component of our Blueprint and curriculum. A position statement from the VSB and ABS was published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery – Venous 2023;11:671.
Vascular Summit
The Vascular Educational Summit between the VSB, APDVS, Residency Review Committee (RRC) and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) was held on 6/19/23. The rollout of the EPAs and the Blueprint redesign was discussed. The RRC is in the process of rewriting the program requirements for vascular surgery. Vascular surgery has been designated as an official subspecialty by the ACGME. Notably, this will not have any impact on vascular training or program requirements.
Volunteer Recognition
The ongoing efforts of the VSB are contingent upon the army of volunteers that serve on the writing committees for the examinations (i.e. QE, CE, CCA, VSITE), as examiners for the CE and those involved in the development of the EPAs. The VSB is truly indebted to all of their selfless service and our successes truly reflect our collective efforts.
Sincerely,
Thomas S. Huber, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair, Vascular Surgery Board of the American Board of Surgery