Inpatient/Outpatient US Clinical Experience in Vascular Surgery in Dallas

Information about this clinical experience:

This is an inpatient and outpatient experience during which you will be under the supervision of a physician who is board-certified in vascular surgery. The physician is on staff at Baylor Scott and White and Medical City Hospital Systems. For 15 years, the preceptor served as an educator training surgery residents in Dallas.

Two days of the week will be spent in outpatient vascular surgery. The practice has an on-site interventional angiography suite where less invasive procedures are performed. On these days, the physician typically does four cases. Rotators will have the opportunity to see the entire process from the moment the patient arrives to the time when the patient leaves, including patient check-in, pre-operative preparation, anesthesia, the procedure itself, and monitoring in the recovery area. A particularly important part of outpatient vascular surgery is educating the patient on the healing process to set the stage for a successful recovery. You’ll have the chance to see how patients are counseled with respect to wound care, medications, activity restrictions, and pain management.

Another two days of the week will be spent in the hospital observing surgeries in the operating room and rounding on hospitalized patients. The surgical case mix involves treatment of conditions using both minimally invasive endovascular and traditional open procedures. To help you make the most of your learning opportunities in outpatient and inpatient vascular surgery, you will be given reading assignments focused on the next day’s cases.

One day of the week will be spent in the physician's office where you will encounter patients with a wide variety of vascular disease. You will typically see 12-20 patients on this clinic day. You will learn how patients with vascular disease are assessed and managed, and the role of tests and imaging in the evaluation of these patients. As the center has on-site ultrasound capabilities, you will see how these imaging procedures are performed.

During your experience, you will learn the following U.S. medical practices under the preceptor’s supervision:

• Taking patient histories.

• Performing physical exams under the physician's supervision.

• Presenting patients.

• Accessing the EMR (CureMD).

• Have opportunities to educate patients.

• Observing a variety of surgeries.

• Have opportunities to research the literature to answer clinical questions at the point of care.

• Spending time with other healthcare professionals to understand their roles and responsibilities.