University of Utah Health Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a 6-year integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery residency at the only academic medical center in the Mountain West, structured to produce fully-formed cardiothoracic surgeons through three foundational years of general/vascular surgery and critical care followed by two dedicated Professional Development/Academic Enrichment years and a final block of chief-level cardiac and thoracic operating experience. The curriculum is explicitly designed around a graduate degree during the enrichment years (MSCI, MBA, MEd, or PhD), reflecting a structured expectation of scholarly output rather than optional research exposure, and residents participate in high-acuity multidisciplinary conferences (Lung Transplant Selection, Aortic Conference, TAVR planning) that signal exposure to complex, tertiary-level cardiothoracic disease including transplant and mechanical circulatory support. The program maintains one integrated slot per year alongside a traditional post-general-surgery CT fellowship, indicating a small, tightly mentored cohort model, and residents progress to primary-surgeon roles on thoracic and cardiac cases by PGY5-6 with elective time in transplant/MCS. The parent institution's deep surgical research infrastructure (core labs, biorepository, SPARC data science support) reinforces that scholarly productivity is embedded in training rather than incidental.