Cardiothoracic Surgery Training

I'm currently unsure about whether or not cardiothoracic surgery is for me. I really love challenges and variety in medicine, but CT surgery seems restricted to just valve replacements and CABGs. Does anyone know if their daily practice is more varied and there's other types of surgeries?

Reply 1

TriplexA

18

Original post by haydenwaldorf18

I'm currently unsure about whether or not cardiothoracic surgery is for me. I really love challenges and variety in medicine, but CT surgery seems restricted to just valve replacements and CABGs. Does anyone know if their daily practice is more varied and there's other types of surgeries?

Hi

A Q for :smile:

Reply 2

junior.doctor

18

What’s your current role? Doctor, medical student, applicant? Something else? What currently interests you about cardiothoracics? Many people think they want to be cardiothoracic surgeons or neurosurgeons because of the perceived challenge / it’s seen as the ultimate thing to aspire to. Reality is generally different.

I’m not a cardiothoracic surgeon - but many of the procedures previously undertaken by CTS are now done by interventional cardiology. If you’re a doctor / clinical medical student, it’s worth trying to spend time with CTS - either as a taster week or an elective placement, to see if it actually is what you think it is, and to hear first hand from the people doing it. Do you want to apply for an ultra competitive training programme, likely have to reapply several times, do additional fellowships / research along the way, and then get to the end and find there’s a long wait for a consultant job? Research the training and the actual job thoroughly. And if you’re one of the many applicants who’s interested, don’t start thinking about a single specialty, as so much will change during medical school.

Original post by haydenwaldorf18

I'm currently unsure about whether or not cardiothoracic surgery is for me. I really love challenges and variety in medicine, but CT surgery seems restricted to just valve replacements and CABGs. Does anyone know if their daily practice is more varied and there's other types of surgeries?

Are you an A Level student?

Reply 4

Democracy

20

Original post by haydenwaldorf18

I'm currently unsure about whether or not cardiothoracic surgery is for me. I really love challenges and variety in medicine, but CT surgery seems restricted to just valve replacements and CABGs. Does anyone know if their daily practice is more varied and there's other types of surgeries?

There's also the thoracic aspect of cardiothoracics i.e. lung, mediastinal, and chest operations.

Why do you ask?

Cardiothoracic Surgery Training

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