ACE: Vascular Anomalies

School of Medicine

Vascular anomalies are rare, complex diseases that require highly specialized, coordinated multidisciplinary care. Over the past several decades, advances in diagnostic imaging, molecular understanding, and medical and interventional therapies have transformed the field of vascular anomalies. The Vanderbilt University Medical Center Vascular Anomalies Clinic was established to provide high quality, comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for children and adults with vascular anomalies. Our core team includes experts in pediatric otolaryngology, pediatric hematology-oncology, plastic surgery, pediatric dermatology and radiology. Most specialists who care for patients with vascular anomalies were not exposed to this field of rare disorders until later in their medical careers. Due to the limited exposure to vascular anomalies in medical training, this Advanced Clinical Experience (ACE) aims to provide medical students with early engagement in this evolving and exciting field. Students participating in this ACE will gain hands-on experience in the evaluation, diagnosis, and management of vascular anomalies. Students can look forward to the unique opportunity to learn directly from specialists across disciplines. This elective emphasizes collaborative decision-making, multimodal treatment planning, and longitudinal patient care. By the end of the rotation, students will have developed a strong foundation in the interdisciplinary care of patients with vascular anomalies. Through this elective, we hope to foster the development of the next generation of vascular anomalies specialists.