Adult Cardiothoracic Fellowship

Our Division, along with the Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, offers an excellent training program for all incoming fellows.

The program includes perioperative management of complex and diverse cardiac as well as thoracic cases such as:

• Ascending and descending aortic aneurysms repair
• Endoluminal stent AAA and DTAA repair
• Aortic dissection repair
• Heart and lung transplantation
• Ventricular assist device placement
• Complex pediatric cardiac surgery
• Valve repair and replacement
• Coronary artery bypass surgery

What to Expect

Our program has a strong curriculum to meet the fellow’s perioperative TEE training requirements (average 10-12 weeks designated echocardiography training time).

All fellows who have graduated from our program (and some residents) have passed the National Board of Echocardiography Perioperative TEE Exam.

There are also some basic and clinical research opportunities for the fellows who are interested in developing an academic career in the future.

Our CT anesthesia fellowship is an ACGME-accredited program, which includes rotations in CT Anesthesia, TEE, the CICU as well as elective rotations to fulfill the overall fellowship training requirement.

Mission

Our program’s mission is to expose fellows to a variety of adult cardiothoracic anesthesia cases through multiple, highly specialized rotations, thereby providing the impetus for basic science and research along with experiential learning that leads to the growth and development of fellows who become certified in transesophageal echocardiogram procedures and leaders of adult cardiothoracic anesthesia throughout the world.

The program leverages its strengths by capturing opportunities for research and basic science within the department and by leveraging a high clinical volume that permits opportunities for expanding a fellow’s knowledge and skills. The aims of the program are reflected in the following goals and objectives.

Goals & Objectives

1. Expand and apply medical knowledge through scholarship, as measured by the number of publications, presentations, and other documented contributions.
   • Objectives to meet this goal are:
     • Facilitate each fellow’s participation in basic, applied, or clinical outcomes research.
     • Ensure that each fellow contributes to the specialty in a documentable way, including, but not limited to presentations at local, regional, national, or international conferences, peer-reviewed journal publications, peer-reviewed online educational or research platforms such as the Anesthesia Toolbox, and participation in educational activities for the community, medical professionals and patients.
2. Ensure that fellows are well-prepared to treat the aging patient population with the latest diagnostic techniques, as measured by the program’s high first-time pass rate on the national Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) exam.
   • Objectives to meet this goal are:
     • Provide training in at least 300 TEEs.
     • Facilitate fellows’ participation in local, regional, or national echocardiography educational opportunities.
3. Establish in our fellows a culture of patient safety and quality improvement as measured by documented fellow contributions to departmental and/or institutional patient safety and quality improvement efforts.
   • Objectives to meet this goal are:
     • Facilitate each fellow’s involvement in specific, measurable patient safety/quality improvement initiatives.
     • Provide each fellow with training on root cause analysis.

To Apply

Our current caseload and concomitant parallel commitment toward resident education allows for us to accept 4 fellows per year.

I strongly encourage you to apply as soon as possible. All applications must be received by April 1st, the interview process will be completed by May 30th and a decision will be published through San Francisco Match.

Applicants should upload their application packages onto the SF Match Website.

These packages should include:

• An application (which is on the SF Match website)
• Personal statement
• 3 letters of recommendation

Michael Franklin, DO
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Program Director, Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowship
University of Florida

Contact the Anesthesiology Education Office for more information.

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