Rotations

• Year 1
  Twelve months of adult cardiac surgery at Hahnemann University Hospital involved in learning the basics of cardiothoracic surgery in adults.
• Year 2
  Six months of pediatric cardiac surgery at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and six months of adult general thoracic surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
• Year 3
  Twelve months as chief at Hahnemann University Hospital. Responsibilities include leading the cardiothoracic surgical service, assigning team members to operative cases, selecting cases to develop an area of expertise, if desired.

Conferences

Conferences are held twice a week, and serve as a forum to discuss topics related to cardiothoracic surgery. Most of the conferences are presented by the residents and fellows, with the attendings present to guide the discussion and provide important input.

TEACHING CONFERENCE
Teaching conferences are held on Tuesday mornings at 7:30 a.m and Saturday mornings at 8:30 a.m. Each lecture focuses on an area in cardiothoracic surgery and is usually given by the residents and fellows on the service. Topics rotate such that the entire curriculum is covered each year. Lectures are occasionally given by either the cardiac surgery faculty or attendings from other services on their areas of expertise.

MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY
Morbidity and mortality conference is presented by the chief resident monthly in lieu of the regular teaching conference. This conference is used to discuss the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of complications seen in cardiothoracic surgery.

COMBINED CARDIOLOGY/CT SURGERY CONFERENCE
Monthly combined conferences are held with the Division of Cardiology. Conferences consist of case presentations followed by a brief discussion of pertinent clinical issues.

Evaluations

FELLOWSHIP EVALUATION SYSTEM
Each resident and fellow is evaluated by members of the faculty twice yearly. The evaluations are reviewed with the resident/fellow in a meeting with the Program Director.

ROTATION EVALUATION SYSTEM
Residents/fellows evaluate each rotation anonymously. The information is reviewed by the program director, chair of the department, and at the faculty meetings in order to make changes in the training program that enhance the learning experience.

INSERVICE EXAMINATION
Residents/fellows are expected to take the yearly inservice examination. Scores are reviewed with each trainee in order to identify areas of potential concern such that the educational program can be modified to maximize the learning potential.