Diagnostic Experience for Jobst Fellows at ProMedica Toledo Hospital
Jobst Vascular Surgery fellows benefit greatly from the presence of the Jobst Vascular Laboratory, a well-established facility on the Toledo Hospital campus where fellows gain vital skills performing and evaluating noninvasive vascular diagnostic procedures. Access to this well-appointed facility is invaluable for fellows as they prepare for the RPVI and the RVT certification exams.
The Jobst Vascular Laboratory provides more than 20,000 inpatient and outpatient examinations per year and is approved by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories (ICAVL). The JVI Laboratory has a long record of major research activity that has produced many publications and multiple scientific achievement awards at national meetings. For a large number of vascular conditions, the noninvasive diagnostic laboratory provides sufficient information for clinical decision-making and documentation of patient outcomes. As you gain vascular experience, you will become proficient in all aspects of laboratory practice.
Formal credentialing of your experience in the interpretation and performance of noninvasive tests currently is required by RVT (Registered Vascular Technologist) certification offered by the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers. Upon completion of the Jobst Fellowship program, you will have the appropriate skills and knowledge to qualify for the RVT certification examination. RPVI (Registered Physician in Vascular Interpretation) certification is also a high priority for the Jobst Vascular Surgery Fellowship program. Your time in the Jobst Vascular Laboratory will provide you with credential-qualifying experience in vascular ultrasound interpretation. Fellows are encouraged to take these examinations prior to completion of their vascular residency program.
A Detailed Look at Vascular Laboratory Training
During annual vascular lab rotations, fellows will be trained in three fundamental elements of vascular lab training: hands-on operation of equipment followed by proctored clinical testing, supervised test interpretation, and study of relevant classical and current vascular literature.
Diagnostic testing methods used at JVI and included in training are:
- Extracranial and intracranial cerebrovascular examinations
- Lower extremity arterial physiologic including exercise testing
- Upper and lower extremity arterial imaging
- Upper extremity arterial physiologic
- Aorta, renal and mesenteric duplex examinations
- Lower extremity imaging for deep venous thrombosis
- Lower extremity imaging for chronic venous insufficiency
- Lower and upper extremity venous mapping for arterial revascularization
- Air plethysmography
- Upper extremity venous imaging for venous thrombosis
- Dialysis access physiologic
- Dialysis access imaging
- Bypass graft surveillance
- Ultrasound guidance for line insertion and endovenous treatments
- Physician interpretation/reading of vascular diagnostic testing and electronic reading system
Formal seminars in vascular laboratory equipment principals, rheology and vascular physiology and ultrasound physics are conducted. Progress in these essentials for vascular laboratory technologist certification is monitored by periodic inservice testing.
Additional subjects included in the vascular laboratory curriculum are vascular laboratory management, Medicare laboratory guidelines, use of CPT and ICD-9 codes, billing procedures, and ICAVL accreditation.