The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery has designed and built a robust pathway which aims to guide students from initial specialty exposure, to engagement to meaningful mentorship, to residency match into the Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program at UPMC and or other leading academic centers nationwide. For more information about any of these programs, please contact Angela Kinnunen at kinnunenae@upmc.edu.
MS1 and MS2:
Cardiothoracic Surgery Interest Group
The initial point of entry to new UPSOM students upon entering medical school is often the Cardiothoracic Surgery Interest Group (CTSIG). CTSIG provides the following opportunities for 1st and 2nd year medical students:
- Lunch and Learn Sessions covering both clinical topics in alignment with the School of Medicine’s cardiac and pulmonary curriculum blocks and career focused talks; Question and Answer panels such as “Day in the Life of a CT Surgeon” and “Women in Cardiothoracic Surgery”.
- Suturing and Knot Tying Fundamentals hands-on workshops.
- Introduction to Cardiac Surgery porcine heart hands-on workshops
- Introduction to Robotic Cardiothoracic Surgery hands-on workshops
- Open invitation to attend weekly Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery Education Day and other continuing medical education events
- Shadowing opportunities with attending cardiothoracic surgeons at UPMC Presbyterian, UPMC Shadyside, UPMC Passavant, and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
Professional Enrichment Course
This intensive elective for first- and second-year medical students is designed to deepen initial exposure from CTSIG or other avenues to cardiac surgery through five two-hour sessions held each year in the early Spring. It is a half didactic/lecture, half hands-on learning experience that utilizes porcine hearts and transcatheter, endovascular, mechanical support, and cardiopulmonary bypass simulators. Since its inception in 2017 by Dr. Ibrahim Sultan, this activity has grown to include Dr. Pyongsoo Yoon, Dr. David Kaczorowski, Dr. Johannes Bonatti, and Dr. Derek Serna-Gallegos as faculty, and is expanding in 2024 to incorporate interventional cardiology into the enhanced structural heart portion of the curriculum. Dr. Sultan received the Award for Outstanding Course Director for a Mini-Elective in 2020 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Office of Medical Education for recognition of the positive impact Cardiac Surgery 101 has had on Pitt medical student education.
MS3 and MS4:
Cardiothoracic Surgery Rotations in Surgery Clerkship
A Surgery Clerkship is required for graduation for all UPSOM students. Cardiothoracic Surgery rotations at UPMC Presbyterian, UPMC Shadyside, UPMC Passavant, and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, are all available as rotations eligible to satisfy this requirement.
Sub-Internship and Elective Rotation
Sub-Internship and Elective Rotations are formal non-requirement credit-earning experiences available to Pitt medical students in adult cardiac surgery at UPMC Presbyterian, congenital cardiac surgery at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and thoracic surgery at UPMC Passavant and UPMC Shadyside.
Acting Internship Rotation
The adult cardiac surgery rotation at UPMC Presbyterian, directed by Dr. Ibrahim Sultan, was upgraded in 2021 from a sub-internship to acting internship eligible to fulfill the AI requirement for graduation.
Away Rotations for External Medical Students
The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery is pleased to welcome third- and fourth-year medical students from around the country to complete away rotations in adult cardiac surgery at UPMC Presbyterian, congenital cardiac surgery at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and thoracic surgery at UPMC Passavant, and UPMC Shadyside.
National Meeting Mentorship Program
Through Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery faculty relationships with the Society for Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Looking to the Future Program, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Member for a Day Program, the Thoracic Surgery Medical Student Association (TSMA), and the Western Pennsylvania Society of Thoracic Surgeons (WPATS), the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery is able to sponsor a small number of highly engaged medical students to attend our major academic society annual meetings each year. At both the AATS and STS, these medical students participate in a variety of pre-planned engagement activities with current faculty, trainees, and training program alumni now practicing across the country. This has resulted in a robust network of internal and external mentors available to these students. Mentor/mentee relationships that are formed through this effort are typically sustained and continue to grow as students enter the cardiothoracic surgery match in order to pursue their training.