Surgery Education - Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Training Program
John H. Calhoon, MD, Program Director | Biosketch
V. Seenu Reddy, MD, MBA, Associate Program Director | Biosketch
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The Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery supports the Integrated General Surgery Residency Program and has its own accredited Thoracic Surgery Residency Training Program. The program is designed to offer residents graded responsibility and maximal involvement in the diagnosis, evaluation, surgery, and postoperative treatment of patients with esophageal, mediastinal, pulmonary, and cardiac diseases. In addition to routine coronary and valve surgery, residents participate in valve repairs, homograft replacements, and complex congenital cardiac repairs. Programs in adult congenital heart surgery, transplantation of the heart and lungs, minimally invasive surgery, and general thoracic surgery have been created in a multidisciplinary fashion. The teaching service includes daily attending rounds, weekly multidisciplinary conferences, weekly grand rounds presentations, and a weekly resident core curriculum, which has been specifically designed to cover all learning objectives necessary to become a competent, board-certified practicing thoracic surgeon.
A busy Veterans Affairs Medical Center together with University Hospital offers a diverse patient population, resulting in a rich learning environment for thoracic surgery residents to be trained in the art and science of cardiothoracic surgery. Our patients benefit from the carefully mentored environment created by this approach.
Residents are involved in preoperative evaluation, receive operative experience on the cases they evaluate, augment postoperative care, and are involved in outpatient clinic follow-up. Additional exposure in bronchoscopy, esophagoscopy, mediastinoscopy, and pacemaker/defibrillator implantation is extensive. Thoracic surgery residents are involved in most of the cases in the program and as a result gain considerable experience in all aspects of thoracic surgery, particularly cardiac surgery and its postoperative management. The residents are responsible to the faculty for all patients on the service.
Besides the clinical experience, there is ample opportunity for individuals to participate in the work of the thoracic research laboratory. Division research currently includes the study of inflammatory mediators in lung transplantation, the effect of acid suppression on the development of esophageal cancer, and organ preservation devices/solutions.
Each of the faculty as teachers wants our program to place the patient first and to create an environment attractive to energetic, inquisitive, and bright health care providers. We believe that our residency program is a benefit to the patients who come to see our faculty surgeons. As a result, the Division of Thoracic Surgery is responding to a need to supply complicated and specialized care and to emerge as a leader for all of Central and South Texas and beyond.
