Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Program

Program Identity & Fit

Cedars-Sinai's integrated thoracic surgery residency is a highly academic, quaternary-care program built around one of the nation's most prominent cardiac programs, including the world's largest heart transplant volume and leading structural heart, robotic cardiac, and thoracic surgery services. Residents rotate through a congenital cardiac surgery experience at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and train in transcatheter and robotic modalities within a research-saturated environment reflected in frequent publications in Nature, NEJM, JAMA, and Lancet. The program's identity centers on producing subspecialized cardiothoracic surgeons through close personal mentorship and operative training rather than broad general-surgery exposure, positioning graduates for advanced/fellowship-level subspecialty practice (structural, robotic, congenital) at academic centers. Its emphasis on research leadership and thought leadership indicates a program that values residents oriented toward academic productivity alongside technical mastery.