The undergraduate teaching of vascular surgery in Greek medical schools: theory and clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this survey was to document and analyze the teaching methods of vascular surgery (VS) in the undergraduate curricula of the seven Greek medical schools.

METHODS: The type of VS subject (core, selective, integrated in other subject), the type of clinical practice, and the specialty of the VS tutors were recorded from the curriculum of each medical school, as documented online. The information was cross-checked with the academic tutors of each Medical School via phone contact and verified by ten medical students of Medical School.

RESULTS: VS is taught mainly as part of general surgery (GS) in four medical schools, as part of another academic subject in two MS but as a core subject in only one Medical School. Five out of seven curricula offer VS as selective subject while three of them focusing on the hemodynamic principles of Angiology and VS. The specialty of instructors was VS in every Greek Medical School.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite the great need for diagnosis and treatment of vascular diseases we recorded a limited VS training among the undergraduate Greek curricula. This heterogeneity does not ensure high-quality education in VS. Furthermore, emphasis on clinical skill acquisition should be further encouraged.