How to Find a Vascular Surgeon

A vascular surgeon is a doctor who receives special training to treat diseases of the arteries or veins using surgical procedures. Finding a vascular surgeon is an easy process; local resources, such as your family doctor or community hospital, and national resources, such as those created by professional groups, make the process simple.

Instructions

Find a vascular surgeon

• 1

  Ask your family doctor for a referral. Because vascular surgeons treat specialized problems of the arteries or veins, you will likely receive a referral to a vascular surgeon from your family doctor. When getting a referral from your family doctor, ask for options -- of the few names that your doctor gives to you, which would he specifically recommend? How long has he worked with these surgeons? You may also ask your doctor's clinic staff -- especially the nurses -- if they are familiar with any of the vascular surgeons on your doctor's referral list.

• 2

  Call your local hospital, or the closest academic teaching hospital or medical school. All vascular surgeons affiliate with either a community or teaching hospital, or a free-standing medical clinic, and have hospital admitting privileges. Area hospitals will be able to help you find a vascular surgeon from the staff they work with on a regular basis.

• 3

  Contact your health insurance provider. Your health insurance provider maintains a list of doctors who will accept your health insurance; obtaining a list of in-network physicians is as easy as calling the number on your health insurance card or visiting your health insurance provider's website to search for a vascular surgeon.

• 4

  Use resources developed by professional groups that represent vascular surgeons. Both the Society for Vascular Surgery and the American College of Surgeons have online resources that allow you to find a local vascular surgeon. (See References.) These tools are searchable by city, state or zip code as well as specialty.