Welcome from the Director

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I am pleased to share more information with you about our leading vascular surgery clinical program and fellowship. 

The Englewood Health Vascular Fellowship Program is a two-year ACGME-accredited postgraduate training program. Completion of the program prepares the trainee to become certified by the American Board of Vascular Surgery and to pursue a career in academia and/or clinical practice.

The program provides both the experiences and environment where fellows can develop the surgical skills, medical knowledge, communication, clinical skills, and professional attitudes to become physicians committed to lifelong learning, medical system integration, and excellence in the diagnosis of vascular diseases, performance of open vascular surgery, and endovascular interventions. Fellows are encouraged to participate in a variety of research projects and are assisted in their academic pursuits including manuscript preparation. View the structure of the Division of Vascular Surgery (pdf) to learn more about our clinical services, research, and teaching activities.

History of the Program

The Englewood Vascular Surgical Service was created in 1976 after Englewood Hospital saw extraordinary growth in the number of limb salvage cases. This growth was the direct result of the introduction and FDA approval of the umbilical vein graft, which was invented by the late Dr. Herbert Dardik, a longtime physician at Englewood Health. Prior to the development of this approach, amputation was often the only option for patients who required vascular reconstruction but lacked suitable veins, or in whom a prosthetic graft would likely fail.

Since that time, Englewood has maintained a regional, national, and international reputation in the vascular community and is well known as a respected training ground for vascular surgeons. The first Vascular Fellowship program at Englewood began on July 1, 1978 and continued for over 3 decades graduating 37 fellows under the Englewood program, and 10 fellows under the combined Englewood/Mount Sinai program. Some of those fellowship graduates continue to be part of Englewood and have provided skilled and compassionate care to our community for years including:

• Barry Sussman, MD (1978-1979; retired)
• Steven Elias, MD (1984-1985) 
• Fred Wolodiger, MD (1985-87)
• Theresa Impeduglia, MD (2001-2003)

In addition to these well respected clinicians, the fellowship program has also achieved academic prominence through awards, published manuscripts, and presentations based on clinical and laboratory research. The successful Vascular Research Laboratory is a unique model of basic science and translational research in a community setting. It has trained countless residents, pre-medical students, and high school students.

As the paradigm related to vascular surgery has dramatically changed over the years, Englewood has continued to evolve its clinical care models. We have seen the development of the Aortic Center, Wound Care Center, and Vein Center and remained on the cutting edge of endovascular care delivery.

I am thrilled that our fellowship program, which was reinstituted in 2019, is continuing to enhance care for our community and contributing to the next generation of great vascular surgeons.

Best regards,

Thomas Bernik, MD, FACS, FSVS 
Chief, Section of Vascular Surgery
Vascular Surgery Fellowship Program Director