A Note from the Program Director Thanks for your interest in the Vascular Residency at Riverside University Health System! I firmly believe a good fit can make residency actually enjoyable, so with us what you see is what you get. Our main training site is a safety net hospital - complex pathology, people who haven’t had care for years, and sometimes we’re the last hope for a patient whose deck is stacked against them. It's humbling work, but it builds clinical judgment borne of managing real-world complexity. With experience here, you’ll have the tools to handle anything you’ll come across in practice. Residents also spend a significant amount of time at our affiliated Kaiser Permanente hospital, where you'll see how vascular surgery runs inside one of the most sophisticated integrated health systems in the country. The goal is to get a robust education in the breadth of what vascular encompasses. And of course it doesn’t hurt that we’re in sunny Southern California, with access to pretty much any activity you use to stay grounded. Ask one of our residents how fast they can make it to Disneyland from here! 😊 One of our core goals is to adapt to the needs of each resident. Tell us where you want to end up — academics, community practice, complex aortic work, something you're still figuring out — and we can tailor your rotations, mentorship, and case exposure around you. We’re excited to graduate surgeons who are technically sharp and genuinely ready for the specific career they want. What I hope stands out most, though, is our program culture. We've worked hard to build an environment rooted in psychological safety and respectful collegiality, where residents feel comfortable asking questions, speaking up, and learning from mistakes without fear. Autonomy progresses gradually and our faculty genuinely like teaching — they'll scrub in when a case gets dicey but let you run it as soon as you're ready. We care about providing a space where you can be pushed hard clinically without losing the parts of yourself that make you a decent human being outside the hospital. Training isn’t something we just hand over to residents; it's something we build together, evolving each year alongside the people in the program. We want to produce excellent surgeons, true partners in patient care — clinicians we're proud to stand beside as colleagues (and maybe even call for advice!). If that resonates with you, I'd love for you to meet our faculty and residents and see it for yourself! Warmly, Kristyn Mannoia, MD, RPVI, FACS Program Director, Vascular Surgery Residency Riverside University Health System