Elective Information – Vascular Surgery at AR Gould Hospital and Eastern Maine Medical Center

Pre-requisite: PGY-2 or above General Surgery or Vascular Surgery residents

Duration for Elective: 2 Week or 4-Week rotations permitted

Rotation Directors: Peter Beaulieu, DO

Educational Objective

This Vascular surgery rotation will provide an opportunity to experience the full complement of modern day vascular care in a rural surgery practice, including endovascular and open surgical care in the resource limited environment of rural Maine. Our surgeons manage a wide array of both vascular and trauma patients presenting with both acute and chronic surgical problems. These patients range from ruptured aneurysms to dry gangrene of the peripheral vascular system. The trainee will also be involved in the remote management and vascular medicine that we use to treat our patients with access issues due to Maines extensive geographical expanse.

This rotation will split time between Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, ME and AR Gould Hospital in Presque Isle, ME. The time spent in each location will be dependent on the case load requirements during the rotation dates selected. Trainees will gain a better understanding of how we provide safe, timely, effective, efficient, and patient-centered care to a population of patients right over a large geographic area with limited access to healthcare resources.

Experiences and Procedures

Primary responsibility includes operating on and managing post-operatively our vascular patients. Operative duties will be assigned commensurate with the resident’s level of training and demonstrated capabilities, up to and including performing open dissections and anastomoses with direct attending surgeon oversight. The resident must keep a log of all surgeries performed during the rotation and is expected to make substantive progress toward completion of the ACGME requirements during the rotation.
Ambulatory Clinic time will be assigned if operative time is not available.
Take surgical call, in conjunction with the on-call surgeon. Call is taken from home, with a 20-minute response time to the hospital required in emergencies. Emergency call-backs are uncommon. Resident schedules are flexible.
Round daily on surgical inpatients (typical inpatient census of 1 to 4 patients) in cooperation with the attending surgeon.
Provide surgical consultation for Medicine inpatients as requested.
Work cooperatively and collaboratively with non-physician providers when called upon for a surgical patient evaluation.

Housing

Depending on the season, housing may be available in Bangor at no cost to the learner. Housing in Presque Isle is typically at the Hampton Inn or comparable lodging. When housing is not available through the rotation, residents may be reimbursed for housing expenses by the MERGE Collaborative. See the MERGE Housing Reimbursement Policy for more information.