Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowship

Overview

In 2007, Massachusetts General Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowship in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine (DACCPM) was one of the first programs in the country to achieve certification by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Our one-year program is accredited for six fellowship positions in cardiothoracic anesthesiology. The DACCPM and our Cardiac Anesthesia Group consider the training of fellows as one of our primary missions along with patient care and safety. We recognize that a strong combination of didactic education and clinical training, with progressive responsibility and independence, leads to strong clinicians and patient care.

Requirements

The Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowship is a 12-month program begun after successful completion of an ACGME-accredited anesthesiology residency program. 

The DACCPM at Mass General follows all minimum selection criteria as delineated in the Institutional Policy on Selection (PDF). As a prerequisite for entry, all applicants for the fellowship must be a graduate of one of the following:

• American Osteopathic Association (AOA)-accredited medical school
• Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)-accredited medical school
• USMLE completion requirement for clinical trainees

Applicants must have also completed an anesthesia residency program accredited by one of the following:

• Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
• Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) or CFPC-accredited residency program located in Canada

Visa Information

All who are not United States citizens or legal permanent residents must have the appropriate visa in order to receive a Mass General appointment.

For questions regarding a J-1 visa, please call the Mass General Registrar/Credentialing Office at 617-726-5316. Questions on all other types of visas should be directed to the Mass General Brigham International Office at 617-726-9211.

Curriculum

The Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship at Mass General prides itself on the education of fellows both in the operating room and lecture room setting. The didactic curriculum includes:

• Anesthesia Grand Rounds
• Boston Area Combined Echo Conference
• Cardiac anesthesia lecture series
• Cardiac anesthesia Journal Club
• Echo boards review
• Interdisciplinary Cardiac Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) Conference
• Thoracic Aortic Rounds
• Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) lecture series

Clinical Experience

The Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowship at Mass General provides fellows with hands-on clinical experience in the operating room, cardiac catheterization suite, electrophysiology suite and Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit (CSICU).

The Cardiac Anesthesia Group covers five dedicated cardiac operating rooms. Approximately 1600-1800 cases are performed each year. Fellows perform a variety of challenging procedures including:

• Coronary artery bypass grafting
• Excision of intra-cardiac masses
• Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
• Heart and lung transplants
• Repair of congenital heart defects in adults and children
• Thoracic aorta repairs
• Transcatheter procedures on the mitral and aortic valves
• Valve repair and replacement
• Ventricular-assisted device placement

Thoracic

All fellows rotate for a two-week experience in the care of patients undergoing non-cardiac thoracic surgery. Fellows work under the guidance of an attending anesthesiologist who is trained in adult thoracic anesthesia. Cases include lung resection and airway surgery.

Echocardiography (Echo)

The echocardiography experience consists of approximately eight weeks of dedicated intra-operative transesophageal echocardiography training. Fellows perform echocardiography exams for potentially any of the above surgical cases, guiding surgical management of these patients. Echo is also being used more frequently for non-cardiac cases, including organ transplantation, vascular surgery, neurologic surgery, and trauma. Expertise in echo is an important component to the success of a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist. Our fellows easily meet the requirements for examinations, 300 interpreted and 150 performed, as required by the National Board of Echocardiography for advanced perioperative certification.

Electrophysiology and Catheterization

Our team provides anesthesia coverage in the cardiac catheterization lab where the fellow will participate in the anesthetic management of percutaneous closure of atrial and ventricular defects, high risk coronary interventions, percutaneous mechanical support and percutaneous removal of intravenous thrombus. The electrophysiology suite places nearly 1,000 pacemakers and defibrillators annually in addition to performing pulmonary vein isolation, ablation of ventricular tachycardia and percutaneous placement of devices to exclude the atrial appendage.

Cardiothoracic Surgical Intensive Care Unit (CSICU)

Fellows rotate through the cardiac surgical ICU (CSICU) for a one-month experience in the perioperative care of heart patients. The Blake 8 CSICU is an 18-bed unit devoted to the pre- and post-operative care of cardiac surgical patients. The patient population includes individuals who have undergone any of the above operations as well as those on mechanical support devices.

Electives

The ACGME encourages fellows to pursue additional expertise in other disciplines of heart surgery. We have established electives in:

• Blood bank
• Electrophysiology
• Extracorporeal technology
• Interventional cardiology
• Pediatric cardiac surgery at Boston Children's Hospital
• Perfusion
• Research
• Transthoracic echocardiography

Apply

Selection to the fellowship is highly competitive. Only completed applications are reviewed.

Application Documents

Please submit the following documents electronically to mghanesfellowapps@partners.org:

1. Current curriculum vitae in MM/YYYY format; Medical school & residency in MM/DD/YYYY format. Submit the document with the extension naming convention such as this: Claus_S_CV
2. A copy of your medical school transcript

SF Match

The Mass General Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowship Program is participating in the SF Match. Registration for the 2022-2023 academic year opens on November 8, 2021. The target date for completed applications to the SF Match is March 2, 2022.

Complete these items in the SF Match application database:

1. Complete the SF Match application
2. Upload the 3 letters of recommendation, one from Program Director or Chief of Service. SF Match application.
3. Add all test score results into the SF Match application

Application Deadline

The program deadline for completed applications is March 31, 2022. Interviews will be conducted from March to the end of May 2022. Match Day is June 9, 2022.