Who are vascular surgeons?

Vascular surgeons are physicians who care for patients with diseases that affect the arteries and veins throughout the body. This medical specialty first emerged in the early 1950s as a hybrid between general and cardiac surgery. However, unlike most other surgical specialties, no parallel medial discipline evolved to treat these patients and vascular surgeons were left to manage the full spectrum of vascular disease. Over the next three decades, pioneers in this specialty expanded our knowledge of the disease processes that affect blood vessels and helped to develop many of the diagnostic modalities and treatments that we use today. Most vascular surgeons spend five years completing their training as general surgeons and then pursue an additional two years of training to acquire the special skills they will need to recognize and treat the full spectrum of vascular conditions they may encounter. In 1982, the American Board of Surgery established the Certificate of Special ...  more

Vascular surgeons are physicians who care for patients with diseases that affect the arteries and veins throughout the body. This medical specialty first emerged in the early 1950s as a hybrid between general and cardiac surgery. However, unlike most other surgical specialties, no parallel medical discipline evolved to treat these patients and vascular surgeons were left to manage the full spectrum of vascular disease. Over the next three decades, pioneers in this specialty expanded our knowledge of the disease processes that affect blood vessels and helped to develop many of the diagnostic modalities and treatments that we use today.  more