Led by Dr. Richard Shemin, MD, Program Director and Chief of Cardiac Surgery, Dr. Jay M. Lee, Chief of Thoracic Surgery, and Dr. Glen Van Arsdell, Chief of Congenital Cardiac Surgery, the Thoracic Surgery Residency at the University of Calfornia, Los Angeles is a two-year ACGME Accredited program. Each year, residents rotate on Cardiac Surgery at UCLA for six months, Thoracic Surgery at UCLA for three, and both the Cardiac and Thoracic surgery services at the West Los Angeles VA for another three. During their two-year residency, residents are exposed to over 2000 annual cases varying from adult cardiac and thoracic, congenital, minimally invasive cardiac robotic mitral valve repair, heart and lung transplants, and mechanical circulatory support assist devices. Residents attend multiple conferences, such as weekly Morbidity and Mortality conferences, every week, which are also attended by the Cardiac and Thoracic faculty and faculty from other specialties. At the successful completion of the two-year Thoracic Surgery Residency, residents will be board-eligible for Thoracic Surgery certification through the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, ABTS.
