Career development in cardiothoracic surgery educational materials
| Career Development: Cardiothoracic Surgery |
Editor(s)-in-Chief: William Patrick, M.D.; Jason Han, M.D.
Overview
Attaining technical proficiency is a critical part of becoming a surgeon. There may be no field more demanding of technical proficiency than Cardiothoracic Surgery. These skill are developed continuously throughout a career and acquisition should begin early in medical school.
There are many ways in which these skills may be developed and many small differences in "ideal" technique. This should not deter trainees from practice.
Two common barriers to practice are lack of resources and lack of time. To address this, Jason Han and Will Patrick from the University of Pennsylvania Integrated Cardiac Surgery Program set out to create a practice curriculum based on the following core principles:
- Low cost
- Readily available materials
- Quick and simple set-up
- Drill-based
Drills are born from approaching a very complex task, such as cannulating an aorta or suturing in a valve, and breaking it down into its most fundamental components. These fundamental components be practiced over and over again. After achieving proficiency by drilling fundamental components, a very complex task becomes the more simple exercise of performing mastered components in sequence.
Practice Videos
Annular suturing:
File:Annular Needle Driving.mp4
Cutting & Dissecting:
File:Cutting and Dissecting.mp4