Cardiothoracic Surgery
“Cardiothoracic surgery is about precision, endurance, and making every heartbeat count.”
— Dr. Valerie Rusch
What is Cardiothoracic Surgery?​
Cardiothoracic surgery involves surgical treatment of diseases affecting the heart, lungs, esophagus, and other organs in the chest. These surgeons handle life-saving procedures like open-heart surgery, lung transplants, and bypass operations.
How Do You Become A Cardiothoracic Surgeon?
​Common Surgeries​
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Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG): This is a surgical procedure that helps solve the issue of blocked arteries by taking healthy blood vessels from other places in the body and creating new arteries.
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Heart Transplant: This is a highly risky surgery, typically performed when no other treatment options remain. It involves replacing the patient's heart with a donor heart and connecting the major blood vessels.
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Lung Resection: This procedure involves removing a portion of the lung that is damaged or affected by cancer. It typically has minimal long-term side effects.
Tools & Technology​
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Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO): It is used in very serious cases in which the patient's heart and lungs cannot fulfill their jobs and it buys time for the doctors to find donor organs.
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Heart-Lung Machine: This is another machine that allows the heart and lungs to rest. Unlike the ECMO this is used during open surgery and allows the surgeons to perform the procedure.
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Robotic-Assisted Surgical Tools: They minimize damage by performing very small and precise incisions in the body.
Heart Valve Replacement
Lifestyle & Salary
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Average salary is around $550,000-$750,000 a year but can go higher with experience.
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The work hours are one of the highest with it being 60-80 hours a week and there being many emergency calls.
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The surgeries are very stressful because they are usually life or death but many surgeons feel very satisfied because of the impact they made in somebody's life.