A new Vascular Surgery fellowship program, based at the Orlando VA Medical Center and Osceola Regional Medical Center, has received initial accreditation and is seeking immediate applicants to begin training in 2021.  

The program is part of a UCF-HCA Healthcare consortium that is building residency programs across Central and North Central Florida. The consortium now has 28 accredited residency and fellowship programs, and vascular surgery is the third fellowship based in the greater Orlando area. UCF and HCA Healthcare together with the Orlando VA Healthcare System will be training more than 480 residents and fellows in greater Orlando, Gainesville and Ocala by July to help alleviate the state’s physician shortage. 

Vascular Surgery is two-year fellowship program and applicants will need to have completed five years of surgery training in an approved residency program by July 1, 2021. Applications should be submitted through ERAS for both 2021 and 2022 start dates.  The program will accept one fellow a year for a total of 2 accredited positions. 

Frederick Fisher, MD, will serve as the fellowship director. Dr. Fisher trained in General and Vascular Surgery at New York University Medical Center. He has served as Lead Vascular Surgeon at the Orlando VA since 2013.  “We are proud to serve the vascular surgical needs of the Orlando Veteran community,” said Dr. Fisher, who joined the VA to build the fellowship program.   

The Orlando VA Medical Center is the primary site of fellow’s training and serves more than 118,000 veterans in Central Florida. This 134-bed facility is part of a 650-acre healthcare and life sciences complex in Lake Nona’s Medical City. The VA is located adjacent to the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. Orlando VA Medical Center has a state-of-the-art Hybrid operating room suite and IAC accredited Vascular Laboratory. Osceola Regional Medical Center, the secondary site, is a 404-bed full-service hospital just south of Orlando in one of Florida’s fastest-growing and diverse communities. 

To learn more about the vascular fellowship, please contact Anthony Santiago at Anthony.Santiago1@va.gov.