Prof Hans Henning Eckstein about Vascular Education

Interview: Prof. Hans-Henning Eckstein MD.- Munich, Germany
Faculty Member of the European Vascular Course
Board Member, Vascular International Foundation, www.vascular-international.org
Interview by Melchior Lippisch, European Vascular Conversation

MLi: The Vascular International Foundation is a well known organization, what makes it special?

HHE: Vascular surgery as a specialty has a multitude of different procedures, demanding for mastering particular technical skills to successfully perform vascular operations. At the time of the very first vascular course in Zermatt, Switzerland in 1991, only the general and orthopedic surgery offered practically oriented courses.
The founders Professors Jens Allenberg/Heidelberg, Georg Hagmüller/Vienna and Jon Largiader/Zurich realized the lack of practical oriented learning for vascular surgeons and just filled a gap for advanced vascular surgical training. They first started with training on surgical suture techniques, but soon they discovered that adequate models were needed to mimic anatomic conditions. They began to develop these anatomic models, in cooperation with the Institute of Anatomy within the Zurich University.

A substantial wealth of experience has accumulated over the last 18 years and brought forward exceptional, sophisticated life-like models for open and endovascular surgery. These models have been refined and improved continuously and new versions were developed just recently. Today, we are able to train delegates in open and endovascular aortic surgery, in distal bypass surgery on leg models. Carotid surgery is trained on a pulsatile carotid model, even allowing our participants to practice endarterectomy. Another aspect making our vascular training so special is represented by the many well experienced tutors at the training units, always available to check performance of trainees, to discuss technical aspects, assisting the delegates, whenever they need or want it.

MLi: Can you highlight the origin of a European Masterclass for Vascular Surgery?

The first 9 years courses held in Zermatt, Switzerland were in German language only.
In the millennium year we invited a group of renowned international surgeons, taking part with guest lectures. It was the beginning of European oriented thinking as we started exporting our concept of training courses.
Later, the advanced course has been internationalized and instantly became successful, as our friends and co-trainers from various countries engaged in promoting the course within their own countries. Vascular International was invited to organize courses during the ESVS, in China, Italy, France and other countries. By our own experience we could assess the emerging needs for our special training methodology and its benefit. Together with John Wolfe from the UK and several other vascular surgeons, we decided to start the EUROPEAN VASCULAR MASTERCLASS for those advanced international vascular surgeons, who wanted to refine their techniques and skills through an intensive training hands-on course.

This year we perform the EUROPEAN VASCULAR MASTERCLASS together with the EUROPEAN VASCULAR COURSE (EVC) for the second time. As the EVC addresses mainly clinical topics by state-of-the-art lectures and interactive discussions, it makes a lot of sense to combine it with our international postgraduate course and intense hands-on-training on open and endovascular simulators.

Therefore we are very grateful to Michael Jacobs and Alain Branchereau for their kind invitation to perform this EUROPEAN VASCULAR MASTERCLASS again (focusing on open and endovascular aortic and carotid reconstructions) in the two days (February 24-25) before the EVC.

Left: New Endovascular Workstation for the European Vascular Masterclass

This image shows the excellent equipment for this course. Left is the new endovascular training unit available for simulating treatment of Thoraco-Abdominal Aneurysm. Trainings are held in close cooperation between the tutors and our industrial partners, who assist in instructing the trainees how to correctly apply their company’s endovascular products.

MLi: What is the benefit of taking part in the European Vascular Masterclass?

HHE:There are three essential benefits:

First: We offer a very intense hands-on-training of more than 20 hours in 2 days with a very favorable tutor-trainee-ratio of 1 in 4. This enables us to comply with individual demands and wishes.

Second: Our anatomic leg and abdomen models are absolute realistic giving the trainees the chance to perform complete procedures like profundoplasty or aortic interposition grafting. We are particularly concerned about continuous improvement of our models. For instance this year a three-dimensional modular endovascular model with a compliant aneurysm model will be introduced, helping us to simulate endovascular procedures from the aortic arch down to the iliac arteries. The same is true for a new neck model with carotid inlays to train different CEA techniques.

New anatomic endovascular model (TAA)

Third: We are very keen to promote an international exchange of vascular surgical experience and philosophies. This exchange arrived and is done by international tutors, joining us every year and by an increasing number of delegates not only from Germany, Austria and Switzerland but also from the UK, Spain, the US, Denmark, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, The Netherlands and many other countries. This January even a female vascular surgeon from Brasil participated in our EUROPEAN VASCULAR MASTERCLASS Open-vascular and endovascular surgery training unit in MAASTRICHT February 24/25 2009!

MLi: How will education for vascular surgeons develop within the next years?

HHE: Since the technical options in open and endovascular vascular are rapidly evolving, vascular surgeons are under pressure to keep the pace with those technical improvements based mainly on new endovascular devices. This rapid change implies an ongoing process of continuous theoretical and technical learning for all of us. Therefore technical workshops with synthetic simulators are getting more and more important. In order to promote a high standard of teaching and training the Pontresina Vascular Workshops consists of three elements:


1. Basic Vascular Surgical Course (held in Pontresina and in Berlin once a year)
2. EUROPEAN VASCULAR MASTERCLASS (held in Pontresina and now in Maastricht for the second time with the european Vascular Course)
3. Anatomical Exposure Course for distal bypass surgery held at the Anatomical Institute in Zurich/Switzerland once a year.
Due to the ongoing demand for more sophisticated vascular training courses we have decided to extend our offer in holding courses throughout Europe within the next years. Taking this strategy into consideration, the combination of the EUROPEAN VASCULAR MASTERCLASS with the EUROPEAN VASCULAR COURSE is a significant step forward towards enhanced vascular hands-on trainings.