Podcast generated from this older post.
Last December, I received an email from a LOCUMS company begging for Christmas coverage at a nearby hospital. It offered an eye watering $330/hr for coverage during Christmas week and weekend. A friend posted about this on X, and it was edifying because no vascular surgeon gets this as regular pay, but it reveals the current market price of an on-call vascular surgeon, at least as much as travel nursing, and the willingness of hospitals to pay for it, reveals the true value of an experienced nurse. If you wonder why it takes so long to see a specialist in 2026, the answer is in the fact that very few people were biting for this offer to be cast so far and wide.
The fact is that no hospital can do things with sharp objects without running into the need for a vascular surgeon.
References
Ojeda LM, Arcila SM, Nunes VA, Duarte CM, Papi M, Jacobs DL, Malgor EA, Malgor RD. The value of vascular surgeons in modern health care systems: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Vasc Surg. 2025 Oct 28:S0741-5214(25)01865-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2025.07.062. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41167378.
Kim Y, Weissler EH, Williams ZF, Mohan S, Coleman DM. Defining the Value of Vascular Surgery Service at a Tertiary Academic Medical Center. Ann Vasc Surg. 2024 Dec;109:198-205. doi: 10.1016/j.avsg.2024.06.040. Epub 2024 Jul 24. PMID: 39059626.
Powell R, Brown K, Davies M, Hart J, Hsu J, Johnson B, Makaroun M, Schanzer A, Shutze W, Weaver F, White J; SVS Valuation Work Group. The value of the modern vascular surgeon to the health care system: A report from the Society for Vascular Surgery Valuation Work Group. J Vasc Surg. 2021 Feb;73(2):359-371.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2020.05.056. Epub 2020 Jun 23. PMID: 32585182.
Johnson CE, Manzur MF, Wilson TA, Brown Wadé N, Weaver FA. The financial value of vascular surgeons as operative consultants to other surgical specialties. J Vasc Surg. 2019 Apr;69(4):1314-1321. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2018.07.035. Epub 2018 Oct 24. PMID: 30528406; PMCID: PMC8386947.
A Surgeon's Notes 