About Us
Training Tomorrow's Leaders and Innovators in Cardiothoracic Surgery
Set in the heart of the beautiful and diverse city of San Francisco, the UCSF Thoracic Surgery Residency Program, directed by Johannes Kratz, MD (Program Director), provides comprehensive training in cardiothoracic surgery. This includes all aspects of Adult Cardiac Surgery, Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Adult Thoracic Surgery, Heart Transplantation, and Lung Transplantation. The pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative aspects related to the care of these patients are integrated as part of a rich, multi-disciplinary, diverse three-year training experience.
The UCSF Thoracic Surgery Residency Program provides broad exposure to cardiothoracic surgery as practiced in quaternary-care academic medical centers as well as community-based / managed care settings. There is a strong emphasis on traditional open surgery as well as the latest minimally-invasive techniques such as robotic-assisted VATS surgery as well as minimally-invasive mitral valve repair.
A strong didactic curriculum is integrated into the fellowship experience in order to solidify a lifelong foundation of knowledge and technical expertise in cardiothoracic surgery. Each of our fellows also participates in clinical or translational research projects throughout their fellowship with the expectation that their work will be presented at regional and national meetings. For those interested, the San Francisco Bay Area also offers rich opportunities to collaborate on resident-driven surgical and oncologic innovations.
At UCSF, each aspect of our training program is designed to not only enable the expert practice of cardiothoracic surgery today, but to empower the future cardiothoracic surgery leaders and innovators of tomorrow.