Vascular Surgery Education and Training in the American Continent: Current Status and Future Directions

Background: Despite the increasing burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), there is a shortage of vascular surgeons worldwide, with a higher scarcity in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of the present study was to report the current status of vascular surgery education and training on the American continent.

Methods: Official government, postgraduate medical schools, and medical associations' websites were searched for data regarding vascular surgery training positions, programs, and pathways available in the 35 countries of the American continent.

Results: There are 707 annual positions for training in vascular surgery offered by 367 training programs. Of the 35 countries in America, only 17 (48.5%) offer vascular surgery training as an independent specialty. In 1 (2.8%) country, Peru, vascular surgery is mixed with cardiothoracic surgery. There is no vascular surgery training in the remaining 17 (48.5%) countries. Brazil has the highest number of training positions, offering 292 (41.3%) positions per year, followed by the United States, with 214 (30.2%) positions per year, and Mexico, with 69 (9.7%) positions per year. The country with more positions per 1,000,000 inhabitants is Cuba (3.93), followed by Brazil (1.34) and Uruguay (0.87). Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United States are the only 4 countries that have vascular surgery board exams.

Conclusions: This is the first report presenting a large-scale picture of vascular surgery education and training in the American continent. Brazil is the country that offers more vascular surgery training opportunities, followed by the United States and Mexico. Disseminating vascular surgery training in America is of utmost importance to help fight the CVDs pandemic the world faces.