Education & Training

The University of Michigan was the first in the United States to offer a residency in thoracic surgery in 1928. Almost 100 years later, we continue to focus on training the next generation of general thoracic and heart surgeons.

Our goal has always been for our residents to be the best exposed and receive an education that allows them to perform at the highest level in thoracic surgery with hands-on experience. We have a long tradition of producing well trained, experienced surgeons who go on to be leaders in the field after their time at Michigan Medicine.

We offer a six-year integrated thoracic surgery residency program for residents interested in going directly into a cardiothoracic training program, as well as a traditional two-year thoracic surgery fellowship program to provide two years of cardiothoracic surgery training following a general surgery residency.

In addition, a one-year fellowship program is available for surgeons interested in gaining specialized training in congenital cardiac surgery following their residency. We also offer a one-year fellowship program providing specialized training in advanced aortic, aortic valve, TAVR, and endovascular surgery.

In this short video, you’ll hear from some of our program leaders who play an instrumental role in shaping the future of medical education and patient care as they share their insights on the Integrated Thoracic Surgery Residency Program at Michigan Medicine.

Michigan’s Medical School is the first entry into one of the highest ranking medical institutions in the country, comprised of committed faculty in both the basic sciences and clinical arenas. Many medical school students stay to pursue their postgraduate training here.

Summer research opportunities are available for medical students interested in cardiac and thoracic surgery.

We offer learning opportunities through the U-M Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) , both for course credit or for lab experience, For undergraduates interested in pursuing a career in medicine and biomedical research.

The CVC offers a Summer Undergraduate Fellowship, which gives undergraduate students the opportunity to gain intensive summer research lab experience.