EPAs for Vascular Surgery
Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for vascular surgery launched on August 1, 2025.
The Vascular Surgery EPAs
15 EPAs for the assessment of vascular surgery trainees
There are a total of 15 core EPAs that will be evaluated for vascular surgery. Click on an EPA below to read its full description:
* The Vascular Surgery EPAs are currently in a review process and are subject to change.
EPAs and Vascular Surgery Trainees
An EPA composite profile will be required during QE application
Beginning in 2029, all applicants to the Vascular Surgery Qualifying Exam (VSQE) will be required to turn in a composite profile across all EPAs when they apply for the exam. In order to assist trainees in developing a robust composite profile, every trainee should be assessed on every rotation.
All program faculty should be trained to function as assessors to promote reliability and validity of the assessment. The use of EPAs for trainees at all PGY-levels to promote consistent habits of meaningful assessment and feedback, and to provide other assessment economies, is strongly encouraged as a best practice strategy.
For more details and information about EPA development, implementation, evaluation, and more, please review our FAQs.
Using EPAs to Support Struggling Residents Infographic
How to Use EPAs to Take Charge of Your Training Infographic
Vascular Surgery EPA Clinical Competency Committee Worksheet
Follow along as the launch of Vascular Surgery EPAs approaches
In the months leading up to the launch of vascular surgery EPAs, the ABS will be hosting webinars and offering additional resources to help prime all training programs for the launch this fall. Dates will be announced soon, but please reference this timeline in the meantime to see which events you are interested in attending.
ABS EPA Grand Rounds presentations for vascular surgery
Dr. Brigitte K. Smith, Associate Professor of Vascular Surgery and Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Surgery at University of Wisconsin, presents a grand rounds on vascular surgery EPAs.
Programs can access a PDF of the slides used in this Grand Rounds presentation here.
Programs may request to have an ABS EPA Project Speakers Bureau representative present a Grand Rounds on EPAs at their local program, either virtually or in-person. To request a speaker, please complete this form.
Program Resources
Resources for programs to utilize prior to and during EPA implementation
The ABS team has produced a full suite of resources for programs to use during EPA implementation, which includes documents and guides, training videos, pre-recorded webinars, presentations, and more. Please note that any resource documents linked will be updated regularly.
Prepare for the launch of vascular surgery EPAs
What members of the vascular surgery community are saying
Why is the change to EPAs needed and what do these changes mean for trainees and faculty? Members of the vascular surgery community share their views on why EPAs are a valuable education tool.
Performing assessments in the app
Vascular surgery EPAs will be assessed in the ABS EPA App™ for surgical specialties
This step-by-step video walks the viewer through how to create a new assessment using the ABS EPA App™ that is powered by Firefly.
EPAs by the numbers
The implementation of general surgery EPAs began on July 1, 2023. Since then, trainees and staff have been using the ABS EPA app to create and complete assessments. The data below shows the most current EPA numbers. (Data as of December 31, 2023.)