Cardiovascular Surgery has three primary goals or missions. The first is to provide the highest possible level of patient care to those requiring our services.

Our second goal, our educational mission, is focused on the education and training of thoracic surgery residents. We also accept as part of our educational mission the teaching of residents in the General Surgery program, medical students and other physicians with whom we work.

Our third goal is to direct and support biomedical research which will be helpful and relevant to the practice of cardiothoracic surgery.

Our Division has three sections, or subspeciality areas; Adult Cardiovascular Surgery, General Thoracic Surgery, and Congenital Heart Surgery. The first two sections are based principally at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania while the later is at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Thoracic surgery residents are an integral part of these three services at the two hospitals and during the core two year thoracic surgery resident program, are provided with the clinical and educational experiences which qualifies the thoracic surgery resident for participation in the American Board of Thoracic Surgery examination and certification process. Specialized and more advanced experience in any of these areas as well with other speciality areas such as transplantation surgery, neonatal heart surgery, and thoracic aortic reconstructive surgery, are provided in a third year Senior Fellowship experience.

The quality of the Thoracic Surgery Resident’s experiences is predicated on an outstanding cardiothoracic surgical clinical program in which patients receive the highest quality, most advanced and effective surgical treatments. The Thoracic Surgery Residents participate in the care of the surgical patients under the direction of the attending members of the Division who provide the individual and personal care for each patient. The research mission and goals of the Division are met through support of Faculty members and research. Fellows and associates in the experimental and clinical research areas of the Medical Center. A broad array of research projects are being pursued which keep our faculty and staff at the leading edge of biomedical developments in all Cardiovascular Surgical areas.