Education

Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery Faculty

Overview

Dr. Raphael Bueno is the Associate Division Chief of Thoracic Surgery and the Program Director for the Brigham & Women's Hospital (BWH)/Children's Hospital (CHMC) Program in Cardiothoracic Surgery. This two-year ACGME accredited program prepares physicians for certification by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. In addition to the accredited residency program, we also have a number of positions for clinical and research fellows.

The residents' experience in this program includes pre-operative, operative and post-operative care of all patients assigned to them. Caseloads for residents at BWH/CHMC applying for American Board of Thoracic Surgery certification have averaged greater than 90% above minimal requirements for all case designations.

Academic guidance in the operating rooms, ambulatory area, teaching conferences and research facilities is provided by attending surgeons, all of whom hold full-time teaching appointments at Harvard Medical School.

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Objectives

The educational mission of the Brigham & Women's Hospital/Children's Hospital Medical Center Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program is to train surgeons to function as qualified practitioners of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the highest level of performance expected of a certified specialist. This includes providing an optimum number of diverse adult cardiac, congenital cardiac and general thoracic operative experiences under supervision to gain surgical skills leading to eligibility for American Board of Thoracic Surgery certification. In addition, we desire to train cardiothoracic residents for academic positions in cardiothoracic surgery.  Each of the three services in this training program (cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery and pediatric cardiac surgery) have dedicated facilities for clinical and laboratory research.

Teaching Facilities

The Brigham & Women's Hospital (BWH) is a 750 bed general hospital.  The pediatric cardiac component of the program takes place at Children's Hospital Medical Center (CHMC), which is located on the Harvard Medical School/Longwood medical campus, immediately adjacent to BWH. There are currently four operating rooms for cardiac surgery, three for thoracic surgery at BWH, and three operating rooms at CHMC. Each service has separate dedicated intensive and immediate care units.

At BWH, cardiac surgery and thoracic surgery are separate clinical divisions and teaching services within the department of surgery, allowing the resident to focus entirely on that specific component of the training program when assigned to these services.

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Program Tracks

Of the four residency positions offered for each year of the two-year training program, two positions are designated as being "cardiac track", and two positions are designated "thoracic track."

For residents in the cardiac track of this program, the first year is divided into two six-month rotations between cardiac surgery and thoracic surgery at BWH. The second year is divided into two six-month rotations between BWH cardiac surgery and Children's Hospital cardiac surgery.

For residents in the thoracic track, the first-year resident will spend twelve months on thoracic surgery as chief resident and the second twelve months will be spent as a senior resident on cardiac surgery at BWH.

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Application Overview

Positions for the Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program are filled via the thoracic matching program of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). The NRMP program code numbers for the BWH/CHMC program are 1265 for the two cardiac track positions and 4265 for the two thoracic track positions. Please refer to NRMP page for information on registration procedures and deadlines. All resident applicants must register with the NRMP in addition to submitting an application to our program.

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Application Requests

We are currently accepting applications from resident physicians who will have completed an ACGME accredited residency program by the time these positions begin in July 2009. 

ALL applications for the cardiothoracic residency program must be submitted through the Electronic Residency Application Service, known widely as ERAS. Programs participating in ERAS may only accept those application materials sent electronically through ERAS. We will not accept any additional supporting documents by mail. Please contact ERAS for registration at www.aamc.org.

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Requirements and Deadline

Application requirements include:

• ABS in-training exam scores
• Three letters of recommendation from physicians who have worked closely with you during your general surgery residency or in your laboratory research. (The inside salutation in your letters of recommendation may be addressed to the residency program director, Dr. Raphael Bueno)
• Medical School Transcript
• Dean's Letter.

Our deadline for receipt of your cardiothoracic surgery residency application and all supporting documents is February 1, 2008.

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Selection

Each application is reviewed in its entirety with an eye toward a combination of overall academic excellence, leadership ability, career development potential, and personal character.

We interview approximately 20 candidates for the cardiothoracic surgery program each year. Although we receive applications from many well-qualified candidates, it is not possible to interview all who apply. Those who are invited will be notified approximately one month prior to the date of the scheduled interview.

The date for the Spring 2008 interview season will be Saturday, March 29, 2007.  We will have only one interview date, and will not be able to schedule any individual interview dates outside of this session. Interviews will be held separately for each individual track, and you must choose either a thoracic surgery or cardiac surgery track upon interview invitation.

Any candidate who is invited to interview must contact the surgery education office to confirm their acceptance of the interview offer. If we do not receive a confirming email or letter from you by the given RSVP date, we will not be able to schedule you for the interview.

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Interview Format

The format for the day of the interview begins with a continental breakfast during the early morning check-in time, followed by an hour-long orientation session with the division chiefs and program directors.

Following the orientation session, each candidate will meet with two groups consisting of the three or four key faculty members. cardiothoracic surgery residents and fellows will be on hand throughout the morning to visit informally with the candidates between interviews and to conduct hospital tours. The interview sessions conclude with a buffet luncheon attended by all candidates, faculty, and cardiothoracic surgery residents and fellows.

For the purpose of making travel arrangements, applicants may anticipate being finished with all interview and tour activities by 3 p.m.

travel arrangements and hotel accommodations

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Research and Clinical Fellowships

To inquire about a research fellowship or non-ACGME clinical fellowship, please send a letter of inquiry and a copy of your curriculum vitae to Dr. Raphael Bueno in care of the BWH Surgery Education Office at 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115. Your letter of inquiry should summarize your previous clinical and research training and indicate your specific areas if interest within the fields of cardiothoracic surgery. Please specify in your letter that you are applying for a non-ACGME position.

Please see the Department of Surgery Research Website for more information about our research or theT32 research training grant in cardiovascular surgery.

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