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The vascular surgery residency program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital has been expanded to include the Columbia University Medical Center campus, along with the Weill Cornell Medical Center campus, as a clinical training site. As a result of the change — which was approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) — the program will have one of the largest number of teaching staff, and one of the most robust and diverse endovascular training experiences in the U.S.

"This expansion is very exciting and adds tremendous breadth and depth to our program. We can now offer trainees a broader and more varied learning experience by virtue of the combined case volumes and the clinical diversity provided by the two medical centers," says Dr. Craig Kent, the program's director, Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.

Vascular surgery residents will spend an equal amount of time at each campus working with the 11-member vascular surgery faculty. Using state-of-the-art endovascular procedure suites and the latest investigational devices, they will be trained in procedures such as carotid stenting and endograft repair of aortic aneurysms. Assisting in both minimally invasive and traditional surgical procedures, residents will treat such conditions as abdominal aortic aneurysm, arterial occlusive disease (a leading cause of amputation and kidney failure), and carotid stenosis (a leading cause of stroke).

The program has also been approved by ACGME to increase the length of training from one to two years, and to increase the number of residents at each level from one to two. These modifications "will allow us to train greater numbers of specialized vascular surgeons, enabling us to better serve the increasing number of patients with vascular disease," said Dr. Kent. "With the field advancing at a rapid rate — and new tools and techniques increasingly at our disposal — vascular surgeons can now offer minimally invasive approaches for most forms of vascular disease.

About NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital — based in New York City — is the largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital in the country, with 2,397 beds. It provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, The Allen Pavilion, and The Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive health-care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education, and community service. It consistently ranks as one of the top hospitals in the country in U.S.News & World Report's guide to "America's Best Hospitals," in New York magazine's Best Doctors issue, in Solucient's top 15 major teaching hospitals, and in many other leading surveys. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the country's leading medical colleges: Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.

The NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System — which includes acute-care and community hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory sites, and specialty institutes — is committed to providing high-quality, cost-effective, and conveniently accessible care to communities throughout the tri-state metropolitan region. The System serves one in four patients in the New York metropolitan area.