The months that you spend doing cardiothoracic anesthesia are busy, but it is worth it.  You do the full spectrum of adult cases; including on-pump and off-pump coronary artery surgery, valve repairs, aortic aneurysms, heart and lung transplantation, cardiac trauma surgery, and use of many types of circulatory assist devices. All types of thoracic surgery, including robotic and thoracoscopic procedures, are performed. Residents are trained in the application of one-lung ventilation, intraoperative fiberoptic bronchoscopy, and are introduced to transesophageal echocardiography.
Your first two months of cardiac are in the CA-2 year and most residents do more cardiac in their CA-3 year. On the CT anesthesia rotations, residents receive close supervision and teaching from the attendings, supplemented by a printed and on-line manual that includes patient management guidelines, learning objectives, study questions and reading assignments. Individual tutorials and cardiothoracic anesthesia subspecialty conferences further resident education.
CA3 residents and CA2 residents who have completed their 2 required months of CT anesthesia can choose to spend an elective month at the Methodist Hospital - Debakey Heart Center in Houston to obtain additional experience in cardiac anesthesia.