PD Member of the Month

Ayman Ahmed, MBBS DABS RPVI FACS FSVS

Program Director, Marshfield Clinic

What is your personal background in vascular surgery education (how long have you worked in the vascular field, why did you choose vascular surgery, etc.)?

I finished general surgery residency (prelim at Mayo Clinic and Univ of MN before finishing my training at UCSF)
Followed by 2 years of Vasc surg fellowship at Cleveland clinic. 
Joining Vasc surg was a mentor and a friend advice long before starting gen surg residency. This advice grew in me after experiencing Vasc surg during residency. It’s fine set of surgical skills, combining open and Endo, long term patient relationship are some of the many reasons I joined Vasc surg for

What is the most rewarding part of your job? as a vascular surgery Program Director? What is the most challenging part of your job?

Reliving patient suffering or saving a patient life is the most rewarding aspect in my job. As program director I get great satisfaction in training the upcoming generation and spreading the knowledge of Vasc surgery. The most challenging part as PD was the fine tuning I had to do when starting the program in integrating the fellowship into the existing general surgery residency. While my aim was to perfect our fellow experience and training but at the same time without ignoring the duty I and my faculty have in continuing the vascular surgery training and exposure to our resident needs in gen surgery.

What are your personal goals within the vascular field?

To continue serving our vascular surgery population. Enriching the field with more scholarly activity and support the upcoming generation of vascular surgeons.

If you had a blank check to change medical education in America, what would you do first?

Decrease the cost of medical school to recruit more high schoolers to the field.

From your perspective, what qualities make a successful vascular surgery applicant?

Dedication 
Commitment 
Resilience 
And detail orientation

What is a "fun fact" about yourself that you would like others to know?