Overview

The thoracic and cardiovascular surgery residency program at Carolinas Medical Center is a two year, fully accredited training program located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The educational focus of our program is to provide the trainee a broad clinical exposure to all aspects of the specialty and to assist placement of the finishing physicians optimally on their selected career pathway.

During the two year training period, the resident spends a total of 18 months on the cardiac surgical service and 6 months on the general thoracic surgery service. Individual modifications in this experience can and have been made based on the resident's individual career pathway, while respecting ABTS guidelines and experience guidelines. It is our philosophy that a two-year high clinical volume experience accompanied by a well rounded didactic curriculum optimally prepares the candidate for their career and also provides optimal efficiency and flexibility should the candidate wish to pursue further fellowship.

All 24 months of the training program are spent on the main campus of Carolinas Medical Center and the adjoining Levine Children's Hospital. Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) is the flagship facility of Carolinas HealthCare System. Carolinas Healthcare System has undergone rapid recent expansion and currently encompasses 32 hospitals in North and South Carolina, making it the third largest nonprofit health system in the country. As one of North Carolina's largest hospitals, it is the tertiary referral center for the region. The hospital is one of only five facilities in North Carolina designated as an Academic Medical Center Teaching Hospital and a Level I Trauma Center. It operates a number of specialized centers and institutes, bringing together some of the finest medical personnel in the country to treat patients with specific diagnoses. The scope of the health system and our location in the rapidly growing city of Charlotte, North Carolina provides a large and expanding patient base.

During the first year of the program, the surgeon in training spends 3 months on the general thoracic surgery service, 3 months on the congenital cardiac surgery service, and 6 months on the adult cardiac surgery service. The majority of the resident's exposure to congenital cardiac surgery is gained during the first year. The second year is divided into 3 months on the general thoracic surgery service and 9 months on the adult cardiac surgery service. The second year residents serve as chief residents alternately for six months at a time. The case distribution is determined entirely by the chief residents. It is our expectation that attention to each resident's breadth of exposure will be an important responsibility of the chief residents.

Clinical Experience

The general thoracic surgery service at CMC is a busy clinical program performing the breadth of open and minimally invasive thoracic surgery. Annually, we routinely perform over 100 VATS lobectomies and approximately 20 minimally invasive esophagectomies. In addition our service is responsible for all complex mediastinal cases, chest wall tumor resections and reconstructions.

The adult cardiac surgery service performs over 700 cases annually. Over the last several years volume has steadily increased despite the shift in the overall patterns of referral for treatment of coronary artery disease in the country. Surgical coronary revascularization volume has remained over 325 per year. Off-pump CABG comprises 50% of our cases. We perform 150 valve operations per year, including aortic and mitral repairs and replacements. We also perform minimally invasive coronary bypass and valve surgery. Typically 15 heart transplants and 15 VADS are performed each year. 

The congenital cardiac surgery service annually performs in excess of 250 cases. With the opening of Levine Children's hospital in 2007, a 222 bed, free-leaning children's hospital on the CMC campus, the congenital surgery service has begun a significant phase of growth. The full spectrum of surgery, from complex neonatal to adult congenital cases, is performed. Additionally, pediatric cardiac transplantation and ventricular assist device services are active. Although the ABTS board requirements for congenital cardiac surgery are quite modest, we understand the vital role that exposure to congenital heart disease plays in the understanding of cardiopulmonary physiology and anatomy. As such, our congenital cardiac surgeons take an active role in the education of the residents.