Integrated vascular surgery residency

Burn Surgery

The UC Davis Firefighters Burn Institute Regional Burn Center is a combined service at UC Davis and the Shriners Hospital for adults and children, respectively, who present with major burns.  Over 500 patients with acute burns are admitted per year to the Burn Surgery service, which provides care for the burn patients in both the acute and outpatient settings. Additional support for the reconstructive needs of the burn patients is provided by the large affiliated plastic and reconstructive surgery program at UC Davis. Vascular residents participate in the care of burn patients in the intensive care burn unit, surgical floor, and operating room settings.

Trauma and Acute Care Surgery

The Trauma and Acute Care Surgery rotations provide vascular residents exposure to the evaluation and management of patients with surgical diseases that require urgent and emergent care. UC Davis is the region’s only Level 1 trauma center and is tasked with caring for some of the most severely injured patients in the western United States.  A significant portion of these patients have traumatic vascular injuries, providing our residents with the unique opportunity to participate in the care of these patients in the operating room and post-operative setting. Additionally, this service also provides care for patients with many types of acute general surgery emergencies. This rotation offers vascular residents experience evaluating and managing the acute abdomen, complex soft tissue infections, biliary disease, and other conditions.

Plastic Surgery

The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery service provides vascular residents with experience in the care for a variety of soft tissue problems, including the operative management of basic and complex wounds, traumatic injuries (including facial fractures and hand injuries), and other reconstructive challenges.

Surgical Oncology

The Surgical Oncology service provides vascular residents with education in the principles and rationale for performing oncologic resections, its basis in cancer biology, and the role surgeons play in the care of the cancer patient. This includes providing multi-disciplinary empathetic care to patients.  Residents have the opportunity to manage vascular components of cancer therapy, become familiar with the principles of surgical resection when tumors involve major vessels, and the role of transcatheter procedures for cancer treatment. Additionally, this service also exposes vascular residents to the diagnosis and surgical management of endocrine disorders.

Transplantation Surgery Service

Vascular residents rotating on the Transplant Surgery service gain an understanding of medical and surgical issues involved in the provision of care for patients who are candidates for or who have undergone intra-abdominal organ transplantation, including kidney and pancreas allografts. This includes exposure to the complex process surrounding organ donation, matching, and evaluation prior to transplantation. Additionally, on the Transplant Surgery service, vascular surgery residents will gain experience in dialysis creation and maintenance for patients requiring dialysis.

Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit

The Cardiothoracic Surgery service at UC Davis treats a wide variety of aortic, thoracic, and cardiac diseases. Vascular residents rotate on the cardiothoracic ICU service and work closely with the critical care team to manage the often-complex post-operative care needed for these critically ill patients. It is through this experience that vascular residents become comfortable with the management of hemodynamic agents in medically complex patients, including resuscitation and titration of vasoactive medications.

Surgical Intensive Care Unit

The Surgical Critical Care rotation allows residents to gain valuable experience managing critically ill trauma and post-operative patients at UC Davis. The closed ICU system not only ensures that patients receive 24-hour access to high level care from an in-house critical care team, but also allows residents the opportunity to manage all aspects of their patient’s care throughout their course in the ICU. This includes experience with ventilator management, fluid resuscitation, use of vasoactive medications, nutrition support, coordination of multiple surgical and medical care teams, and complex decision-making regarding need for surgical intervention. Additionally, the unique structure of the Surgical Critical Care service affords vascular residents a unique exposure to a multi-level team-based approach to critical care.

Radiology and Vascular Lab

Residents have a dedicated 4-week curriculum with modules and readings. The rotation incorporates hands on time in the vascular lab with structured readings in order to learn about the vascular lab procedures we do as well as get to know the reading system. During and after completion of the vascular lab rotation, residents may begin reading vascular labs in order to accumulate cases for graduation.

Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Service

The UC Davis Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Clinic is the premier Orthopedic Foot and Ankle clinic serving the Sacramento and Northern California region. It provides the highest quality of care for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of both disorders and injuries of the foot and ankle. During their rotation on this service, vascular residents work with two Orthopedic surgeons to learn the intricacies of surgical planning and gain exposure to operative techniques for treating foot and ankle injuries, including minimally invasive approaches, complex reconstruction, and advanced methods for preservation of a functional foot.