Welcome to Vascular Team Talk, a podcast mini-series by the Society for Vascular Surgery Physician Assistant Section and Audible Bleeding.  In this podcast, we interview people who work in the vascular world and discuss their roles and life on their vascular team to learn more about how different vascular teams are built and function.  We look to highlight the good and learn from the bad so that we can take those experiences back to our teams and make positive changes that will make our teams more robust and improve the care we provide to our patients.

In this first episode, Steve Robischon, PA-C, and Laura Needler, APNP, both advanced practice providers at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), review the history of the physician assistant and nurse practitioner professions, discuss similarities and differences in their training, and describe how they function on their vascular team.  They also interview Dr. Nate Kugler, a vascular surgeon at MCW, regarding his experiences working with PAs and NPs both during his training and now as a practicing surgeon.

Show Guests:

• Steve Robischon, PA-C, is a physician assistant in the Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI, and he’s currently the Lead Outpatient APP for the Division.  He’s also a member of the SVS PA Steering Committee.  He received his Master of Physician Assistant Studies from Marquette University in 2007
• Laura Needler, APNP, is a nurse practitioner in the Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI, and she’s currently the Lead Inpatient APP for the Division.  Laura received her Master of Science in Nursing from Concordia University of Wisconsin in 2013
• Dr. Nate Kugler is a vascular surgeon and assistant professor in the Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI. He completed medical school at Southern Illinois University in 2012, followed by both his general surgery residency and vascular surgery fellowship training at MCW which he completed in 2021.

Show Links:

• American Academy of Physician Assistants / Associates (AAPA)
• American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)
• SVS Physician Assistant Section
• Society of Vascular Nursing
• MCW Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery