On 24 September 2002 in Istanbul, Turkey, the assessors of the EBSQ-VASC (European Board of Surgery Qualification in Vascular Surgery) examinations convened for the Examiners’Meeting, on the eve of the 7th annual EBSQ-VASC assessments. The traditional Examiners’Dinner kindly sponsored by Bard, followed the meeting. The assessors represented all the UEMS (Union Europ©enne des M©d©cins Sp©cialistes) European Union countries. The assessments and other functions of the Division and Board of Vascular Surgery, were hosted by the ESVS (European Society for Vascular Surgery) in the Lufti Kirdar International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 24-26 September 2002, during the ESVS annual congress.The objective of the EBSQ-VASC assessment is to harmonise and maintain standards of practice across the EU. An innovation in the examinations was the use of electronic format for the section concerning clinical case analysis – by presenting the case illustrations on CD-ROM. Out of 24 initial candidates, 22 were accepted for Part 2 of the viva voce assessments led by David Bergqvist, EBSQ-VASC Chairman, and Christos Liapis, Secretary General of the Division and Board of Vascular Surgery. 17 candidates passed the examinations (77% success rate) and were awarded the EBSQ-VASC diploma on 26 September 2002, in Istanbul. Another new feature this year was the Technical Skills Exercise under John Wolfe, President of the Board of Vascular Surgery and Vikas Pandey, Research Fellow at St Mary’s Hospital, London. The objective of this pilot exercise was to determine the technical skills of the participants by rating performance on such issues as handling of tissue, instruments and suture, flow of operation, knowledge of procedures, etc. A further highlight of the EBVS activities was the symposium on Vascular Training and the Impact of the European Directive 48-hour week.
Other activities of the EBVS in Istanbul included the biannual Board Meeting with a full turnout of members and associated members, and the biannual meeting of the European CME Committee under Johan van Bockel (the Netherlands) which is making marked progress regarding accreditation of meetings across Europe. With this latter function, the cycle of events of the Division and Board of Vascular Surgery in Istanbul came to a close.
