Vascular Surgery

Department of Surgery and Surgical Specialties

  • Course Information

    Course Number: RSRG615

    Prerequisites: Completion of the Phase 2 Surgery or OB/GYN clerkship

    Length of Time: 2 weeks

    Available for Phase: Phase 2 or Phase 3

    Credit Type: Physician Assessed Patient Facing (PAPFE) or Open

    Call: Infrequently and weekends occasionally (UW Health location only)

  • Contact Information

    Program Director at UW Health Hospital: Sara Mijal, MD

    Program Directors at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center: Samantha Cox, FACS, FSVS, RPVI; Emilia Krol, MD; Nkiruka Arinze, MD

    Coordinator/Scheduling: Allison King (aking75@uic.edu)

    Locations: UW Health Hospital (1401 E State St, Rockford, IL 61104); OSF St. Anthony Medical Center (5666 E State St, Rockford, IL 61108)

Learning Objectives:

This elective is offered to students interested in learning more about management of peripheral vascular diseases.

  1. Improve in ability to perform a vascular exam.
  2. Learn basic principles of diagnosing and treating aortoiliac, femoral, popliteal, and various other vascular diseases.
  3. Understand the indications for general vascular procedures (arterial revascularization).
  4. Become aware of the complications of arterial reconstruction and major vascular surgery.
  5. Become aware of the incidence, location of disease, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, appropriate treatment and prognosis of common vascular disease.
  6. Have the experience of participating in vascular surgery procedures both operative and endovascular.
  7. Learn about diagnostic procedures performed in the vascular laboratory.
  8. Understand general arteriovenous anatomy.
  9. Understand the signs, symptoms and diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease, venous insufficiency, aortic aneurysm disease.
  10. Learn about diagnostic procedures performed in the vascular lab, primarily ABI testing (OSF location only).
  11. Become aware of the various graft materials and what graft is appropriate for the surgical treatment of a variety of vascular diseases (UW Health location only).

Learning Activities: 

In clinical electives taken through the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford, registered students will participate in any combination of the following activities with the goal of positively impacting patient care and learning about patient conditions to achieve the course objectives. These activities include, but are not limited to: chart review, history elicitation of patients, physical exam, oral presentation, written documentation in the EHR, special topics presentations, procedural skills, participation in seminars/didactics/grand rounds, participation in development of assessment and plan for the care and treatment of patients, interpretation of patient findings either by exam or test results, literature review, case discussion, interprofessional care, simulations, and patient meetings. Students will engage in activities as directed and appropriately supervised by College Faculty.

Method of Assessment: Faculty evaluation of performance

Required Reading: Required readings can be found on the Rockford – Phase 3 (Year 4) Canvas.

Additional Resources: None

Miscellaneous Information: None