Cardio-Thoracic Surgery

Time limit

10 years

From your first approved rotation, to finish every requirement

Leave

6 weeks

At most in each 6-month rotation, every kind of leave together

Part time

50%

Of full time at least, approved in blocks of 12 months

• The 6 weeks cover annual, personal, compassionate, parental, study, conference and carer's leave together. More than that needs an approved interruption, or the rotation may be assessed as unsatisfactory
• The 10 years do not count approved leave for illness or family

• Accredited posts45 in 33 hospitals, 37 of them in 27 hospitals in Australia and 8 in 6 hospitals in Aotearoa New Zealand
• Your employerThe hospital you are allocated to employs you, so apply to it for the post once the committee places you
• Your next postFrom SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 2, you send the committee your preferred hospital for the next year after speaking with its unit and supervisor. Its decision is final, and trainees cannot swap posts
• Posts in the territoryNo hospital in the Australian Capital Territory is accredited for cardiothoracic surgery training

What every accredited cardiothoracic post must give you each week

Theatre sessions

3

Elective operating sessions a week at least

Clinics

1

Supervised clinic a week at least, with new and follow-up patients

Ward rounds

2

Consultant ward rounds a week, with daily rounds of your patients after surgery

Supervisor

1

For each accredited post, a Fellow of RACSRoyal Australasian College of Surgeons on the hospital staff whom the committee approves

Assessment meetings

2

In each 6-month rotation, halfway through and at the end

• Your supervisor runs your assessments and reviews your logbook, with a consensus view from every consultant in the unit. Every surgeon who works with you is a trainer

Cardiothoracic Surgical Sciences and Principles ExaminationThe RACS examination of the basic sciences of cardiothoracic surgery, a multiple choice paper and then an anatomy viva

By SET 4

Passed by the end of SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 4, within four attempts

Fellowship ExaminationThe Royal Australasian College of Surgeons' final examination in cardiothoracic surgery, a written paper and then a clinical and viva part

SET 5 or 6

The final examination, once your thesis has passed

• The sciences examination's multiple choice paper is sat in February or June, in ten cities across both countries, and its viva in May or October
• The Fellowship Examination's written paper is sat in March or August, and its clinical and viva part in May or October

Trainee evaluationYour supervisor's report on your performance, agreed with the unit's consultants and discussed with you

Each rotation

At the midpoint and the end, sent to the committee every 6 months

Direct observation of procedural skillsA trainer watches you do a set procedure, such as a median sternotomy or a radial artery harvest, and rates it on a form

Each term

At least one, each by a different trainer

Longitudinal requirement formA form sent with each rotation's assessments, recording your progress on the training requirements, such as your publications

Each rotation

Sent with your other assessments

• The observations cover vein, radial artery and internal mammary artery harvest, median sternotomy and redo sternotomy, coronary artery bypass and aortic and mitral valve surgery. You move past SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 2, SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 4 and SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 6 only with every observation up to that level done

Major cardiac operations

600

As first assistant by the end of training, with 100 done with a consultant assisting and 10 on your own

Major thoracic operations

50

As first assistant by the end of training, with 30 done with a consultant assisting and 10 on your own

By the end of SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 3

200

Major cardiac operations as first assistant, with 30 major thoracic

• Every case goes in the RACSRoyal Australasian College of Surgeons logbook, the Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool, approved there by a cardiothoracic surgeon
• The numbers are a guide. If your operative experience falls short at any stage, the committee can add training time. Six months in a paediatric cardiac post can lower them, decided case by case

Publications

2

Journal articles as first author, submitted by the end of SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 5

Thesis

1

Submitted within 4 years of starting training

Research time

12 months

At most, approved and supervised, counted toward training

• The thesis is an original dissertation of 5,000 to 10,000 words on a cardiothoracic topic, usually written over SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 3 and SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 4 alongside your clinical work. It must be good enough to publish, and it must pass before you can sit the Fellowship Examination

Cardiothoracic Course

Every year

Lectures, trainee presentations and a wet lab, from SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 1 to SETSurgical Education and Training, the RACS training program. SET 1 is its first year. 6, at your own cost

ANZSCTSThe Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons, which runs the annual scientific meeting and its trainee wet lab. meeting

Every year

The annual scientific meeting, with its trainee wet lab

• The Cardiothoracic Course runs with the RACSRoyal Australasian College of Surgeons Annual Scientific Congress in late April or May. The trainee weekend and wet lab run with the ANZSCTSThe Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons, which runs the annual scientific meeting and its trainee wet lab. meeting in November