Investigators polled 200 members of the general public (GP) and 161 first-year medical students (MS) via a random-digital telephone and paper-based survey in a niche market. A 58-item multiple choice vascular surgery knowledge questionnaire (VSQ) was formulated that included the most commonly performed vascular surgery procedures, presenting illness and training. Statistical analysis was used to assess differences in the VSQ.
    
The survey revealed that that there is a significant knowledge deficit among the GP and MS about the field of vascular surgery. This portends serious implications that will affect the public health in the United States and the future of the specialty.
    
The mean VSQ score for the GP and MS groups was 54 + 14% and 66 + 13% respectively. Forty-one percent of the GP group received a score of less than 50%. Only 50% of the GP group and 51% of the MS group agreed with the statement that “…vascular surgeons perform procedures on all blood vessels with the exception of the heart and brain.” Just 24% of the GP group agreed that vascular surgeons treated patients with non-healing wounds and only half of the GP group agreed that vascular surgeons treat abdominal aortic aneurysms. At five years, the GP group significantly underestimated the average length of postgraduate training to become a vascular surgeon. The level of education, income and residence in the western states, but not age or gender, significantly correlated with higher scores. GP subjects who admitted to knowing about vascular surgery received scores similar to those of subjects who did not (59% vs. 53%;
    
Responding to the survey, Dr. Frank J. Veith, MD, Chairman of the American Board of Vascular Surgery and the William J. Von Liebig Chair for Vascular Surgery at Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, NY) said, “This study is just the tip of the iceberg. If you were to execute the same exact survey across the U.S., the findings would be equally alarming. There is no question that the public is at risk. Healthcare costs will continue to escalate unless the insurance industry and government recognizes that specialization for vascular surgery will dramatically improve patient quality and contain costs. We need to educate first year medical students about the specialty. This can only be accomplished through the formation of an independent vascular surgery Board,” concluded Veith.
         
About VEITHsymposium™: Now entering its fourth decade, VEITHsymposium™ has been the epicenter of physician education for the global vascular community. This international congress attracts
over 2,500 leaders in the field. More than 250 international clinician/educators present the latest topics, advances and data and then validate these concepts through the dynamic interactive faculty/audience exchange that ends each session.
         
VEITHsymposium™ is sponsored by Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, NY) with CME credit issued by Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, NY).

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Pauline T. Mayer
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