The global objective of the thoracic residency program is to teach residents the skills necessary to become well-rounded cardiothoracic surgeons. In addition, it is our interest to align our training program with modern career objectives. The rotation schedule for the residency is designed to achieve this global objective, while at the same time permitting enough flexibility within the program to accommodate the desire of a resident to focus on a particular sub-specialty, such as general thoracic or adult cardiac surgery. Throughout the residency, the resident is given graded responsibility both in and outside the operating room.
It is our ultimate goal to prepare our residents not only to satisfactorily pass the ABTS certification examination, but to excel beyond that to a level of expertise that will allow the resident to become a future leader in their area of specialty. To assist in this endeavor we have many educational activities which include:
The Educational Conferences are designed to provide a didactic curriculum for the Cardiothoracic Surgery residents. Our meetings are held every Thursday and Friday morning and consist of a combination of:
In addition to the institutional and local conferences, our program provides opportunities for our residents to attend professional medical society conferences, e.g., Society of Thoracic Surgery Annual Meeting, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Annual Meeting, etc. and resident specialty conferences sponsored by Duke University, Edwards Lifesciences, Cardiovascular Research Foundation, etc. Our residents are encouraged to attend at least one conference per year.
