The ABVS Position Regarding the Proposed ABS Primary Certificate in Vascular SurgeryFollowing meetings between American Board of Surgery (ABS) and Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) representatives, the ABS agreed to submit an application to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) allowing them to grant a Primary Certificate in vascular surgery. If approved this would allow vascular surgical trainees to take the ABS exams in vascular surgery and be certified in that specialty without being certified in general surgery. It would be a mistake to read the recent February 2, 2004 SVS communication "The Vascular Surgeon Online", and conclude that this effort will meet the needs of vascular surgeons and the goals of the ABVS. If viewed as an evolutionary separation from general surgery, the ABVS would embrace this effort. However, the ABS does not view this as a waystation to independence for vascular surgery. In fact, the ABS Executive Director, Frank Lewis, noted that "It would not be acceptable to ABS if the efforts for an independent vascular board were continued by attempting to have the VSB [Vascular Surgery Board of the ABS] take on this role". Thus, the ABVS believes that accepting this proposal will fix the Specialty of Vascular Surgery in the ABS hierarchy, and the hard-won momentum to become an independent specialty with its own ABMS approved Board will be lost. Given this scenario, Vascular Surgery will continue to be under the ultimate authority and control of the ABS Directors, of whom vascular surgeons will always be a voting minority. Thus, we will continue to be de facto and in reality subordinate offspring of General Surgery. Richard Green and I met with Frank Lewis, Barbara Bass (ABS Vice Chair) and Frank LoGerfo (Chair ABS Vascular Surgery Board) on December 22, 2003, and we were clearly informed by Dr. Lewis that ".... actions of the VSB would still be subject to full ABS Board approval, and that not all vascular initiatives would be favorably reviewed." This is a control issue, and we don't have it, nor is it in the ABS cards for this control to be given to Vascular Surgery. Thus, in this context it is unreasonable for the ABVS to support a proposal that perpetuates our specialty's subordinate position in the ABS organization. It is timely that the ABS Vascular Surgery Board and the ABS Directors in January 2004 "recognized our specialty's evolution to the extent that they believe we deserve a Primary Certificate in Vascular Surgery without having to complete and be certified first in General Surgery. However, to simply accept this "recognition" and lose the opportunity to be ultimately responsible for the training and certification of vascular surgeons does not serve the best interest of our future trainees or our patients. Dr. Green has been asked to present the ABVS view to the ABS that the Primary Certificate be a waystation to the eventual establishment of an independent ABMS approved ABVS. It would seem to be a small step for the ABS Directors to accept this possibility, and treat Vascular Surgery as it does the other ABMS Surgical Specialties. James C. Stanley, MD |
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