The Yale University School of Medicine offers a six year integrated cardiothoracic surgical training program. This new innovative program is centered upon a streamlined curriculum focused upon preparing its trainees to develop successful careers in academic cardiothoracic surgery, deriving its foundation from a rich history of traditional cardiothoracic surgical training.
The Yale integrated program curriculum is flexible, offering pathways of emphasis in either cardiac or general thoracic surgery, leading to certification by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS). During the first four years of the program (PGY1 through PGY4), the cardiac pathway includes emphasis on vascular and endovascular surgery as well as cardiac catheterization, echocardiography, and cardiac electrophysiology; similarly, the general thoracic pathway includes emphasis on surgical oncology, interventional radiology, and foregut/esophageal physiology.
The last two years of the program (PGY5 and PGY6) consist of intense operative experiences in both cardiac and general thoracic surgery, individualized according to the residents’ clinical interests, yet comfortably achieving ABTS case requirements for certification. At this stage, residents will also assume administrative responsibilities to derive experience in managing busy clinical services and organizing the educational curriculum for their peers.
An innovative six-year program that offers extensive training in the field of cardiac and thoracic surgery was proposed to the Residency Review committee in 2012. The program is approved to begin admitting medical students from North American Medical schools beginning July 1st 2014 via the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). Yale will offer two integrated cardiothoracic surgical resident positions each year. Training commences after medical school graduation, with the first trainees anticipated to begin in July, 2014.
Salient features:
- An expansive curriculum providing training in general surgery (e.g., surgical oncology, gastrointestinal surgery, endocrine surgery), vascular surgery, endovascular surgery, surgical critical care and cardiac anesthesia, interventional cardiology, echocardiography, diagnostic endoscopy, and interventional radiology relevant to cardiothoracic surgical patients.
- Our traditional independent two-year cardiothoracic surgical residency program will run concurrently with the integrated program until 2017 when it will be phased out.
- The integrated training program conducted under the direct supervision of the attending staff, permitting progressive resident responsibility.
Contact Suzanne Giannotti for information regarding our program, 203-785-6258.