The Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery provides you with the skills and knowledge to begin a career as a cardiothoracic surgeon.
The training program focuses on flexibility by exposing you to a wide spectrum of patients and procedures over three years. During your rotations on the UW Health Cardiac, VA Cardiac, UW Health Thoracic and UW Health Kids congenital services, you will participate in the care of patients encompassing the entire spectrum of cardiothoracic disease. We perform 1,000 cardiac and 650 major thoracic operations per year and more than 70 heart and lung transplants per year. We are also a busy ECMO center, with 100-plus runs per year managed by the cardiothoracic surgery service. This robust clinical experience is complemented by modern strategies to optimize the educational opportunity, including a dedicated simulation experience and a defined process for graduated autonomy. We seek highly motivated individuals dedicated to mastering the craft of cardiothoracic surgery.
During your rotations you will be involved in all phases of care with priority given to operative experiences and acute inpatient care. As you accrue time and experience in the training program, your level of responsibility will rapidly increase, with the expectation that you will soon be leading the OR and inpatient teams as a ‘junior attending.’ The core surgical experiences are complemented by dedicated time on collaborative services, including interventional pulmonology and echocardiography. The third year is the culmination of your experience during which you will be able to dedicate a bulk of rotation time according to your personal interests, whether in cardiac, thoracic or congenital surgery.
UW Hospitals and Clinics and the VA Hospital provide excellent support for clinical care. All cardiothoracic services have dedicated advanced practice providers (APP) who assist with excellent, consistent patient care and follow-up. This APP infrastructure serves as an educational resource for new fellows learning, and also allows trainees to focus on their personal educational objectives without being hindered by competing service obligations. Additionally, the cardiothoracic ICU at University Hospital is staffed by a 24/7 dedicated critical care team.
The UW Department of Surgery features world class research capabilities with opportunities available as your bandwidth may allow. All fellows participate in a quality improvement project with the intention for possible publication, and all are encouraged to contribute to active research projects directed towards submission to relevant meetings, including STS, AATS, and ISHLT. Research efforts are supported by a dedicated cardiothoracic surgery research manager who will help facilitate projects and coordinate with core research services.
The three-year Cardiothoracic Surgery program accepts one applicant per year. The prerequisite for this program is a five-year general surgery residency and board eligibility. Residents may apply for the residency through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) and will participate in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP).