UNM Division of Vascular Surgery

The Division of Vascular Surgery was started in 1988, under the direction of Chairman Donald Fry MD. James Kunkel MD, the first Division Chief, started a new era in New Mexico, as patients could now obtain the expertise of a group of Board Certified Vascular Surgeons, who were specially trained in vascular surgery, and whose practice was dedicated only to management of patients with vascular surgery problems. Today we remain the largest group in the state dedicated only to the practice of vascular surgery.

Our vascular surgery practice is based at the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH), the tertiary referral hospital for New Mexico, and the state’s only Level I trauma center. Our hospital is also the main training site for New Mexico’s only medical school, the UNM School of Medicine. Teaching medical students and General Surgery Residency is an integral part of our mission in the Division of Vascular Surgery. Currently we have one PGY-5 and one PGY-1 as part of our vascular team. In addition, we have a dedicated vascular nurse practitioner who is an integral member of our Division.

Education

Our vascular team, along with our vascular surgery colleagues at the Albuquerque VA Hospital and Lovelace Hospital, participates in a weekly Vascular Education Conference. Each Wednesday from 630 AM to 830 AM we have a rotating schedule that includes pre-op case conference, M & M conference, journal club, research conference, and didactic conferences covering all topics in vascular surgery. On Fridays at 730 AM we join the rest of the Surgery Department for Surgery Grand Rounds and M & M conference.

Our Division currently has three faculty members. Mark Langsfeld MD has been the Division Chief since 1997. John Marek MD joined Dr Langsfeld in 1997. Our newest partner is Kristen Biggs MD, who joined the Division in 2008. All faculty members are actively involved in resident and student education along with their clinical practices. Our clinical mission is tied to our institutions’ commitment as being the tertiary referral hospital for the state. Our vascular surgery practice covers the full spectrum of both arterial and venous diseases. We are leaders in endovascular therapies, as evidenced in 1999 by our Division placing the first commercially available endograft in the United States for repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. We also participated in CARESS, a the national carotid stent trial. We have been able to maintain our cutting edge endovascular technology as our operating room is equipped with a fixed Philips imaging system. This specialized endosuite/operating room enables us to choose the best therapy, either open surgical or endovascular, for our patients.

In addition to our clinic and operating room facilities at UNMH, we will be opening an outpatient venous disorders center in early 2010. Additionally, our group supervises the ICAVL accredited vascular laboratory at UNMH. This busy lab performs approximately 500 vascular lab studies monthly.

Highest Quality Care

Our Division is committed to the highest quality vascular surgery care for our patients. We are the only hospital in the state that provides board certified vascular surgeons for on call vascular surgery care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. Besides our clinical expertise, we are dedicated educators as well, as evidenced by multiple teaching awards earned by our faculty. Finally, we are interested in clinical and outcomes research. Our faculty members have the opportunity to participate in several types of research education programs at our medical school. The Masters in Clinical Research Program is one such program available for our faculty interested in developing translational research as a significant component of their academic career.