University of Virginia Health System

Our Surgery Resident Training Program: 

The Thoracic and Cardiovascular Division of the Department of Surgery at the University of Virginia maintains a very active research program.  The goal of our Training Program is to assist the University of Virginia in remaining in the forefront of cardiothoracic surgery research and to allow for the training of surgical investigators.

It has been the position of the University of Virginia that the best time for residents to enter laboratory training is after their second post graduate year.  By that time, they have acquired some clinical skills and areas of desired interest.  This allows them to consider whether they are truly committed to clinical training following research training.  They then complete their general surgical training and proceed to thoracic and cardiovascular surgical training.  However, there are some individuals who make up their minds at a later date about the area of surgery they prefer to enter. Therefore, the proposed training program is designed to allow certain people, after their completion of general surgery, to complete two years of research training prior to entering specialty clinical training in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery.

It has been very beneficial for the trainees who have been supported through our NIH Training Grant.  Many of the trainees of the TCV Surgery Laboratory under Dr. Irving Kron’s guidance have continued their careers as surgeon scientists, e.g. E. McGahren at UVA, J.A. Kern at UVA, S.E. Langenburg at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, S.A. Buchanan at Maine Medical Center, and R.C. King at the University of Washington. Of the seven trainees that we have placed on the training grant to date, two have completed their surgical training. One of them, D. Cassada, currently has the position of Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville . The second trainee is in private practice, but has several research publications.  He is currently working with Dr. Lawrence Bonchek in Lancaster , PA. and has hospital privileges at Lancaster General Hospital . Our laboratory has had a significant amount of collaboration with each of the faculty members who have been asked to serve as mentors.

The Department of Surgery has had a long commitment to surgical education as it relates to transmitting knowledge and information to residents and students about surgical diseases and their treatment.  In a more recent era, the department has taken on an additional commitment to train others on how to teach this information. The success of this additional layer of commitment is illustrated by the fact that our department was selected from all of the teaching departments at the University of Virginia as the best teaching department by this year’s graduating class. One of our chief residents was selected as the best resident teacher in the medical center, and one of our faculty members was selected by the students to give the baccalaureate address for this year’s graduating class. The surgical residents involved in the training grant will have easy access to these resources in the department, and are encouraged to continue to develop their experience in and their skill for teaching. We believe that this environment is an ideal environment to bring along surgical investigators. We believe that this commitment to education will mesh well with the training they will receive in research.

Objective:   The goal of our Training Program is to provide surgical residents with training in the fundamental aspects of research. The research focus will be on end-organ function following transplantation and surgery. The purpose is to provide a foundation upon which surgical residents can develop into established investigators. The overall goal will be that these individuals will combine surgery with basic science research and eventually become surgeon-scientists. These individuals will be encouraged to go on to obtain faculty positions and to develop and maintain independent research laboratories and have the ability to compete for independent funding. There have been limited training programs in cardiovascular surgery and it is our feeling that such a program would be valuable in its capability to train surgeon-scientists.

Model:  The program is designed primarily as a two-year program, though a third year is encouraged. The program is designed for surgical residents who usually will have completed two years of clinical training prior to entering the laboratory experience. There will also be positions available for individuals who have finished five years of clinical training either prior to entering their first academic surgical post or entering post surgical fellowship training. All trainees will be physicians. Required courses for all trainees will include courses in scientific investigation, the ethics of scientific investigation, biostatistics and a multi disciplinary lecture series in the cardiovascular research center.  Other courses in the basic science areas can be chosen as desired by the trainees.

Laboratory and Preceptor:   The trainee and his supervisor select an appropriate project within the first several months of the training period or earlier if possible. Two years of research training should allow for development of the needed research techniques and skills required to begin a successful career in academic surgery. Trainees are given the opportunity to and will be expected to present their research findings at national scientific meetings such as the American Heart Association, American Association for Thoracic Surgery, Society of University Surgeons, American College of Cardiology, and other relevant meetings. In addition, presentation at specialty meetings is encouraged. Furthermore, it is expected that the trainee will submit their work for publication after preparing the research article. The trainees will also be given the opportunity to critically review scientific articles and learn the technique of writing a grant proposal. Through the publication of scientific and clinical articles in first rate peer-reviewed journals, and presentation at major scientific and clinical meetings, the trainees will be well prepared to obtain independent funding and obtain junior faculty positions after completing the research fellowship and clinical training in cardiothoracic surgery. 

Academic Teaching:  The primary focus of training is on the lab experience, but this is strongly supplemented and put into perspective by an array of courses, conferences and tutorials. For example, all trainees are required to attend a course entitled "Research Ethics" (BIMS 710) which is offered during the spring semester. In brief, the objective of this requirement is to establish a forum for distribution of information on the ethical and moral problems encountered in biomedical research and a setting in which these issues will be discussed in an open and enlightened manner.