Vascular diseases constitute some of the most common causes of disability and death in Western society. Yet, few physicians have chosen vascular disease as an area of clinical specialization. Academically oriented vascular medicine training programs are required to develop vascular medicine specialists with the leadership skills and academic credentials to educate future generations of vascular specialists. Accordingly, we propose to establish a comprehensive Vascular Medicine training program that includes: 1) a core clinical curriculum taught by a multidisciplinary faculty of vascular medicine physicians, vascular surgeons and vascular radiologists;2) an extended didactic clinical research curriculum;and 3) a mentored clinical research experience. The proposed program will admit seven trainees, each for three years. The first year of the program will include clinical training and expose the trainee to all aspects of vascular medicine including peripheral arterial disease, renal and mesenteric vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, venous thromboembolism, venous insufficiency, lymphedema, vasculitis, vasospasm, and less common vascular disorders. Clinical time will be devoted to inpatient and outpatient vascular consultations, the noninvasive vascular laboratory, computed tomographic and magnetic resonance angiography, peripheral angiography, endovascular interventions and vascular surgery. The second and third years of training will emphasize clinical research. This will include an extended didactic clinical research curriculum emphasizing epidemiology, statistics, clinical trials design, and include principles of pharmacology, genetics in clinical investigation, bioethics and responsible research conduct and additional coursework leading to a Masters degree in Medical Science or Public Health, as appropriate given training and career goals. Coursework will be supplemented by research seminars and journal clubs. Trainees will work closely with mentors who will supervise their research activity and guide the trainees'career development. The mentored clinical research experience will include a vascular research project and teach skills in protocol development, experimental technique, methods, analysis, oral presentation, manuscript writing and grant preparation. Research activities will leverage the many clinical research programs and facilities that are available at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. These resources will provide significant opportunities for the trainee to acquire clinical research skills and facilitate a successful transition towards independence as a clinical investigator. As a consequence of the intensive clinical and research training integrated in this program, we are confident that we will successfully prepare future academic leaders in the field of Vascular Medicine.
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