Vascular Surgeon
Vascular surgeons treat disease in the arteries, veins and lymphatic system, restoring blood flow and preventing amputation, stroke and aneurysm rupture.
- Median salary*
- $234,000
4.5%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 180
10.0%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +33.1%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 50/wk
+10h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- In shortage
national
Vascular surgeons diagnose and operate on conditions affecting blood vessels outside the heart, including peripheral artery disease, aortic aneurysms, carotid narrowing and varicose veins. They work in public and private hospitals, splitting the week between operating theatres, imaging suites, outpatient clinics and emergency call. The specialty is often confused with cardiac surgery, but the vessels it treats lie everywhere except the heart and the arteries inside the skull, and the work mixes open surgery with minimally invasive endovascular techniques.
How much do vascular surgeons earn?
The median full-time salary for a vascular surgeon is $234,000 per annum, before tax, up $49,700 since 2018.
Public hospital surgeons are paid under state health awards or enterprise agreements, while private practice income depends on how much fee-for-service operating and consulting you take on. On-call and emergency cover, which is thinly spread outside the capital cities, adds to earnings in regional posts. The first years after fellowship are usually salaried, and private earnings build as referrals do.
What does a vascular surgeon do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Assessing patients with arterial and venous disease in outpatient clinics
- Performing open procedures such as bypass grafts, endarterectomy and aneurysm repair
- Carrying out endovascular procedures, including stenting and stent grafts placed through a small puncture
- Reading angiography, CT and ultrasound imaging to plan operations and taking emergency call for ruptured aneurysms or an acutely ischaemic limb
- Running ward rounds and post-operative care, and supervising registrars in theatre and clinic
What skills do vascular surgeons need?
Employers look for patient care and support, clinical assessment and treatment, backed by Sectra PACS fluency and strong problem solving.
Specialist skills
- Patient care and support
- Clinical assessment and treatment
Software and tools
- Sectra PACS
- Epic Hyperspace
- Cerner Millennium
- Siemens syngo.via
General skills
- Problem solving
- Written communication
- Attention to detail
- People leadership
- Time and deadline management
Is the job growing?
About 180 people work as vascular surgeons in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 33.1% over the decade to 2035. That's very strong growth. Few roles in Australia are expanding this fast, and it points to solid demand for years to come.
How do you become a vascular surgeon?
Here's the path most vascular surgeons take, step by step.
- 1Complete a medical degree
An accredited Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, or a graduate-entry medical degree if you already hold another degree, takes five to six years and includes clinical placements in hospitals.
- 2Finish your internship and prevocational years
The intern year brings general registration with AHPRA, then one or two more years as a resident medical officer build ward and operating experience while you apply for surgical service posts.
- 3Enter surgical training in vascular surgery
Selection into the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons training program is competitive and weighs references, a surgical logbook and exam results. The program runs about six years of hospital-based training with rotations through vascular units.
- 4Gain your fellowship and specialist registration
Training ends with a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS), then specialist registration with AHPRA, which is what allows you to work and bill as a consultant.
- 5Subspecialise or move into private practice
Some surgeons take a fellowship year in complex aortic or endovascular work overseas, and many later combine a public hospital appointment with private operating.
Ready to apply as a vascular surgeon?
Whether you're working toward becoming a vascular surgeon or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a vascular surgeon move to?
We don't list lateral moves for vascular surgeons: leaving means a full new qualification rather than a career move, and the realistic routes in are covered under how to become one.
Who works as a vascular surgeon?
The typical vascular surgeon is 45 years old; 81% are men, 85% work full-time, and full-timers average 50 hours a week.
- 45
- Median age
- 19%
- Female share
- 85%
- Full-time
- +10h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a vascular surgeon?
The week is built around theatre lists, clinics and on-call, and the operating itself is physical: long days standing in lead aprons, often working from X-ray images rather than a direct view of the vessel. Vascular patients are frequently older and unwell, so the specialty rewards people who like visible, immediate results and can stay steady when someone arrives with a ruptured aneurysm at 2am. The reward is a small set of problems you can genuinely fix, from a leg that was heading for amputation to a carotid that was heading for a stroke.
What people like
- Results you can see on a scan. Restoring blood flow to an ischaemic leg or excluding an aneurysm changes a patient's prospects within hours, and the follow-up imaging shows whether it worked.
- Open and endovascular work in one job. You might do a femoral bypass in the morning and a stent graft through a groin puncture in the afternoon, and choosing between them is part of the craft.
- Patients you get to know. Dialysis access, claudication and surveillance after aneurysm repair all bring people back for years, so the relationships are longer than in most surgical specialties.
- Working with a tight team. Vascular units are small, and the registrar, vascular nurse, radiologist and sonographer you rely on are usually the same faces from week to week.
What people find hard
- On-call is unforgiving. Ruptured aneurysms, acute limb ischaemia and trauma do not schedule themselves, so nights, weekends and interrupted theatre lists come with the job.
- A training path of a decade or more. Medical degree, prevocational years and six years of surgical training sit between starting out and consultant pay, and selection into training can take several attempts.
- Complications carry real weight. Graft infections, strokes after carotid surgery and patients who do not survive repair are part of the work, and they stay with you.
- Beds, theatre time and waiting lists. Much of the frustration is logistical, with emergency cases displacing elective lists and hospital resources limiting how quickly semi-urgent cases move.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ vascular surgeons?
Health Care and Social Assistance employs the largest share of vascular surgeons.
Top employing industries
- 1Health Care and Social Assistance
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Postgraduate | 62.3% | |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor degree | 36.1% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 0% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 0% |
Will AI replace vascular surgeons?
Vascular surgery is one of the least exposed specialties, because the core of the job is hands-on work inside a blood vessel that no current system can perform. What AI does change is the surrounding work: imaging software already highlights stenoses on CT angiography, and operation notes, discharge summaries and clinic letters can be drafted automatically. Those tools speed up planning and paperwork rather than the decisions made in theatre.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Operating on arteries and veinsOpen bypass grafts, endarterectomy and endovascular stent grafts all depend on hand skill and split-second decisions guided by fluoroscopy as the case unfolds.50%low
- Assessing patients in clinicFeeling pulses, examining ulcers and taking a history are still the surgeon's job, though triage software can sort referrals and flag who needs review first.25%moderate
- Reading and reporting imagingAutomated analysis of CT angiography and duplex ultrasound can measure a stenosis or track aneurysm size, but the surgeon still decides whether the finding justifies an operation.15%high
- Documentation and correspondenceOperation notes, discharge summaries and letters to referring GPs can now be drafted from templates and voice input, which cuts after-hours typing.10%high
Common questions about becoming a vascular surgeon
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do vascular surgeons earn?
Vascular surgeons earn a median $234,000 per year before tax, and the spread around that figure is wide because public and private work pay differently. Public hospital specialists sit on state awards or enterprise agreements, while private income depends on the volume of fee-for-service operating and consulting you take on. The figure is a median for full-time work, so new consultants and those working part time earn less.
How do you become a vascular surgeon?
You complete a medical degree, work as an intern and then a resident medical officer, and apply for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons training program in vascular surgery, which takes about six years. Fellowship of the college and specialist registration with AHPRA are what let you practise as a consultant. Selection is competitive, and many applicants spend extra years in surgical service posts before they are accepted.
Are vascular surgeons in demand?
Vascular surgeons are currently in shortage nationally, and employment is projected to grow 33.1% over the decade to 2035. Because aortic emergencies and acute limb ischaemia need cover around the clock, hospitals depend on a small group of trained specialists, so the qualification carries weight in most job markets.
Will AI replace vascular surgeons?
The exposure is low, because the central work is manual and happens in real time with a patient on the table. Imaging software already helps flag a narrowed artery on a CT angiogram, and routine documentation can be drafted automatically, which trims planning and paperwork rather than the operation. Judgement about whether to operate, and how, still sits with the surgeon.
What other roles can vascular surgeons move into?
The specialty draws mostly from resident medical officer posts and from general surgery, and both routes require the vascular training program and specialist registration. A vascular surgeon earns about $130,000 more than a resident medical officer, and about $30,900 more than a general surgeon, since the operative skills and anatomy overlap closely. Many surgeons later take on private practice or a mixed public and private role, and that is often where earnings grow.
What is the difference between a vascular surgeon and a general surgeon?
Vascular surgeons operate on the arteries, veins and lymphatic system everywhere except the heart and inside the skull, while general surgeons cover the abdomen, gastrointestinal tract, breast and other areas. The two overlap in trauma and emergency work, which is why general surgeons can move across after the extra vascular training.
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