A new advanced training statement from the ACC, American Heart Association, Society of Vascular Medicine and American College of Physicians defines core competencies required of Level III vascular medicine specialists. The 2021 ACC/AHA/SVM/ACP Advanced Training Statement on Vascular Medicine was published Jan. 15 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The advanced training statement complements the ACC 2015 Core Cardiovascular Training Statement (COCATS 4) – which defines the training requirements for all clinical cardiologists – and describes the knowledge and skills necessary for vascular medicine specialists, including the ability to interpret patients' clinical presentation, plan diagnostic testing, apply clinical and laboratory information, and develop appropriate management plans for patients with vascular disease. It identifies selected competencies of vascular medicine specialists that go beyond core expectations achieved by some advanced trainees during formal fellowship training or through subsequent training experiences. In addition, the statement provides examples of appropriate measures to assess competence in the context of training.

"Although cardiovascular physicians frequently encounter and care for patients with a wide range of arterial and venous disorders, the management of vascular disease often necessitates highly trained specialists," Writing Committee Chair Mark A. Creager, MD, FACC, and Vice Chair Naomi M. Hamburg, MD, FACC, write. They add that "vascular disorders require a distinct set of knowledge and skills for optimal management."

The document also emphasizes preventive approaches to reduce the burden of vascular disease and highlights the importance of advancing health equity by understanding sex, race and ethnicity-related differences in the epidemiology, causes and outcomes of vascular disease.

The advanced training statement was developed in collaboration with the Association of Black Cardiologists, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, the Society for Vascular Nursing and the Society for Vascular Surgery.

Clinical Topics: Anticoagulation Management, Cardiac Surgery, Invasive Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention, Noninvasive Imaging, Pulmonary Hypertension and Venous Thromboembolism, Vascular Medicine, Atherosclerotic Disease (CAD/PAD), Anticoagulation Management and Venothromboembolism, Aortic Surgery, Interventions and Imaging, Interventions and Vascular Medicine, Angiography, Nuclear Imaging

Keywords: Extremities, Ischemia, Aneurysm, Angiography, Coronary Angiography, Anticoagulants, Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors, Aortic Diseases, Dissection, Atherosclerosis, Carotid Arteries, Stents, Carotid Artery Diseases, Endarterectomy, Carotid, Cerebrovascular Disorders, Intermittent Claudication, Critical Illness, Clinical Competence, Venous Thrombosis, Drug Therapy, Endovascular Procedures, Vascular Grafting, Blood Vessel Prosthesis, Diagnostic Imaging, Mesenteric Arteries, Vascular Diseases, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Peripheral Vascular Diseases, Therapeutics, Risk Factors, Pharmacology, Pulmonary Embolism, Renal Artery Obstruction, Vascular Surgical Procedures, Aorta, Thoracic, Thrombosis, Thromboembolism, Vasculitis, Veins, Venous Thromboembolism

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