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Surgical specialties

Vascular Surgery Diploma

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A practical diploma in vascular surgery for the decisions that save limbs and lives: when to revascularise and how, when to repair an aneurysm and by which route, which carotid arteries need treatment, and how to run safe emergency and elective vascular care.

Twenty-five weekly sessions across five modules take you from peripheral arterial disease, the diabetic foot and amputation, through aortic, carotid, visceral and venous disease, to trauma, perioperative care and service quality. Teaching is anchored on guidance from the European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) and the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), with US differences flagged, and is taught live by practising specialists you can question.

Course director
To be announced
Format
25 live weekly sessions on Zoom, in 5 modules
Dates
Confirmed when enrolment opens

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Angiogram showing the main artery of the abdomen dividing into the two arteries that supply the legs, bright white against a dark background.
Image: MR angiogram of the abdominal aorta by Hellerhoff via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Who it is for

Senior trainees, fellows and early-career consultants in vascular surgery, and interventional radiologists and general surgeons who manage vascular emergencies, worldwide.

The programme

25 one-hour sessions in 5 modules, each with its learning objectives. This is the draft programme: the course director reviews and refines it before enrolment opens, so session titles may change.

Module 1 · Sessions 1 to 5Peripheral arterial disease and limb ischaemia

  1. 1. Vascular assessment and imaging

    • Perform and interpret ankle-brachial and toe pressure measurements, including in calcified vessels
    • Select duplex, CT angiography or MR angiography for the clinical question
    • Reduce the risk of contrast-associated kidney injury in vascular patients
    • Recognise imaging findings that need same-day vascular review

  2. 2. Intermittent claudication and best medical therapy

    • Diagnose peripheral arterial disease and grade its severity
    • Prescribe best medical therapy to reduce cardiovascular and limb events
    • Refer patients with claudication to supervised exercise before considering intervention
    • Select the few patients with claudication who should be offered revascularisation

  3. 3. Chronic limb-threatening ischaemia: staging and the limb pathway

    • Diagnose chronic limb-threatening ischaemia and stage the limb by wound, ischaemia and foot infection
    • Grade the pattern of arterial disease with an anatomical staging system
    • Plan care using patient risk, limb severity and anatomy together
    • Organise urgent assessment so that revascularisation is not delayed

  4. 4. Revascularisation for limb ischaemia: bypass or endovascular first

    • Compare the BASIL-2 and BEST-CLI trial results and explain why they differ
    • Choose between bypass and endovascular treatment for an individual patient
    • Assess vein quality and plan the conduit for bypass
    • Plan surveillance after bypass and angioplasty

  5. 5. Acute limb ischaemia

    • Recognise acute limb ischaemia and grade its severity
    • Choose between surgical embolectomy, thrombolysis and endovascular thrombectomy
    • Diagnose compartment syndrome and decide when to perform fasciotomy
    • Recognise the irreversibly ischaemic limb and plan primary amputation or palliation
Module 2 · Sessions 6 to 10Diabetic foot, amputation, access and infection

  1. 6. The diabetic foot

    • Assess perfusion in a diabetic foot ulcer, including when ankle pressures mislead
    • Grade diabetic foot infection and start the right antibiotics
    • Decide when a diabetic foot ulcer needs urgent revascularisation
    • Work within a multidisciplinary foot team to save the limb

  2. 7. Major and minor amputation

    • Choose an amputation level that balances healing and function
    • Plan perioperative care that reduces mortality after major amputation
    • Manage stump pain and phantom limb pain
    • Refer early for rehabilitation and prosthetic assessment

  3. 8. Vascular access for haemodialysis

    • Plan the first dialysis access with vessel mapping and the renal team
    • Choose between a fistula and a graft for a given patient
    • Manage a failing or thrombosed access
    • Recognise and treat access-related hand ischaemia

  4. 9. Vascular graft and endograft infection

    • Diagnose vascular graft infection using clinical, imaging and laboratory criteria
    • Choose between graft excision with reconstruction and graft preservation
    • Plan antimicrobial therapy with the microbiology team
    • Recognise an aorto-enteric fistula and plan emergency care

  5. 10. Peripheral aneurysms and non-atherosclerotic arterial disease

    • Decide when and how to repair a popliteal aneurysm
    • Treat an iatrogenic femoral pseudoaneurysm
    • Recognise thoracic outlet syndrome and select patients for surgery
    • Identify vasculitis and other non-atherosclerotic causes of limb ischaemia
Module 3 · Sessions 11 to 15Aortic disease

  1. 11. Aortic aneurysm screening and surveillance

    • Explain who is screened for abdominal aortic aneurysm and why
    • Set surveillance intervals by aneurysm diameter
    • Apply sex-specific diameter thresholds for elective repair
    • Reduce cardiovascular risk in patients under aneurysm surveillance

  2. 12. Elective aneurysm repair: endovascular or open

    • Assess fitness and anatomy for endovascular and open repair
    • Explain why NICE and ESVS guidance differ on endovascular repair
    • Hold a shared decision conversation about repair, including no repair
    • Plan surveillance after endovascular repair and treat endoleaks

  3. 13. Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm

    • Recognise a ruptured aneurysm and arrange immediate transfer to a vascular centre
    • Apply permissive hypotension during resuscitation
    • Choose between emergency endovascular and open repair using IMPROVE trial evidence
    • Decide with the patient and family when repair would be futile

  4. 14. Complex abdominal aortic and iliac aneurysms

    • Classify complex aneurysms by their relation to the renal arteries
    • Choose between fenestrated or branched endovascular repair and open repair
    • Preserve internal iliac flow when treating iliac aneurysms
    • Protect the spinal cord during extensive aortic repair

  5. 15. Thoracic aorta and type B dissection

    • Classify acute aortic syndromes and identify complicated type B dissection
    • Select patients for thoracic endovascular repair in acute and chronic type B dissection
    • Manage malperfusion of the gut, kidneys and limbs
    • Arrange urgent cardiac surgical care for type A dissection
Module 4 · Sessions 16 to 20Carotid, visceral and venous disease

  1. 16. Symptomatic carotid disease

    • Grade carotid stenosis on duplex and CT angiography
    • Time carotid endarterectomy after a transient ischaemic attack or minor stroke
    • Choose between endarterectomy and stenting for a symptomatic patient
    • Recognise and manage stroke and hyperperfusion after carotid intervention

  2. 17. Asymptomatic carotid stenosis

    • Summarise the ACST-2, CREST-2 and ECST-2 trial results
    • Identify features that put an asymptomatic stenosis at higher stroke risk
    • Counsel a patient on medical therapy alone versus intervention
    • Explain where European and US carotid guidance differ

  3. 18. Mesenteric and renal artery disease

    • Recognise acute mesenteric ischaemia and plan revascularisation with the general surgeon
    • Diagnose chronic mesenteric ischaemia and choose stenting or open repair
    • Select the few patients with renal artery stenosis who benefit from intervention
    • Decide when a visceral artery aneurysm needs treatment

  4. 19. Varicose veins and venous leg ulcers

    • Assess a patient with varicose veins using duplex ultrasound
    • Choose between endothermal ablation, foam sclerotherapy and non-thermal options
    • Refer patients with venous leg ulcers for early ablation of superficial reflux
    • Apply compression therapy safely, including in mixed arterial and venous disease

  5. 20. Venous thrombosis and deep venous disease

    • Diagnose and anticoagulate deep vein thrombosis in line with current guidance
    • Select patients with iliofemoral thrombosis for early thrombus removal
    • Recognise post-thrombotic syndrome and decide who may benefit from venous stenting
    • Manage superficial vein thrombosis and upper limb thrombosis
Module 5 · Sessions 21 to 25Trauma, perioperative care and professional practice

  1. 21. Vascular trauma and iatrogenic injury

    • Control haemorrhage from a major vascular injury with open and endovascular methods
    • Use a temporary shunt as part of damage control
    • Repair an extremity arterial injury with the trauma team
    • Manage iatrogenic arterial injury after catheter or open procedures

  2. 22. Perioperative care and antithrombotic therapy

    • Assess cardiac and frailty risk before major vascular surgery
    • Choose antithrombotic therapy after each type of vascular intervention
    • Manage anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs around surgery
    • Optimise anaemia, renal function and smoking before elective surgery

  3. 23. Endovascular practice, radiation and the hybrid theatre

    • Apply radiation protection to patients and the team in the hybrid theatre
    • Choose arterial access and closure to reduce access complications
    • Recognise and treat access-site complications
    • Introduce a new endovascular device through local governance

  4. 24. Vascular services, networks and outcomes

    • Describe how a hub-and-spoke vascular network organises emergency and elective care
    • Use registry and audit data to compare outcomes
    • Run a vascular multidisciplinary team meeting that records clear decisions
    • Give patients written and spoken information that supports shared decisions

  5. 25. Complex case review and professional practice

    • Apply the course to complex vascular cases in a panel discussion
    • Present a vascular complication at a morbidity and mortality meeting
    • Fulfil the professional duty of candour after harm to a vascular patient
    • Plan your own development towards an open, endovascular or mixed vascular practice

What the diploma includes

  • 25 live sessions on Zoom, one evening a week, with recordings for the weeks you miss.
  • Practising specialists teaching live, so you can put your questions to them.
  • Weekly MCQs and a final written assessment.
  • A digital certificate carrying your final classification.

Lead or teach the Vascular Surgery Diploma

We are looking for a course director and faculty from the specialty. Sessions are one hour in the UK evening, live on Zoom, and paid.

Apply to teach