Cardiothoracic Surgeon

Patients with failing hearts, diseased valves, and thoracic tumors need a surgeon who decides clearly and operates with precision. In this role, you will lead complex cardiac and thoracic cases from first consult through recovery, improving survival, reducing complications, and restoring function. Success is measured in outcomes patients can feel: safer operations, shorter critical-care stays, and care plans the whole team can execute.

Performance Objectives

• Evaluate and operate on a defined mix of adult cardiac and thoracic cases, including CABG, valve repair or replacement, and lung or mediastinal procedures, with outcomes tracked against STS or equivalent benchmarks.
• Reduce major complications and unplanned returns to the OR by standardizing preoperative risk review, intraoperative decision points, and early postoperative escalation.
• Shorten ICU and hospital length of stay for elective cases without increasing readmissions, through protocol-driven pathways you help design and own.
• Lead multidisciplinary conferences so every high-risk patient has a documented plan covering imaging, anesthesia, perfusion, and discharge criteria before the incision.
• Mentor residents, PAs, and OR staff so cases start on time, handoffs are complete, and junior clinicians can manage routine postoperative issues independently.
• Contribute operative and outcomes data on schedule so the program can publish quality results and correct variance within the quarter it appears.

Environment & Resources

• Practice within a cardiac surgery service supported by dedicated OR teams, perfusion, cardiac anesthesia, and a step-down unit accustomed to complex recovery.
• Access to hybrid imaging, TEE, and a data coordinator who maintains the clinical registry you will use for case review.
• Report to the chief of cardiothoracic surgery or service line medical director; partner daily with cardiology, pulmonology, and critical care.
• Block time and clinic support sized to a full operative schedule, plus protected time for M&M and quality work.

Essential Qualifications

• MD or DO, ABTS-certified or board-eligible in thoracic surgery, with an active license and unrestricted privileges pathway.
• Recent, independent experience across coronary, valve, and general thoracic surgery, with case logs that match the program’s volume.
• Demonstrated results on mortality, reoperation, infection, or length of stay—not just volume.
• Comfort leading a room under time pressure and teaching while operating.
• Eligibility for hospital credentialing, including call coverage appropriate to program size.

Role Selling Points

• Real operative autonomy with a service already built for complex hearts and chests, not a solo start-up.
• Quality infrastructure that lets your results be seen and improved, not buried in anecdote.
• A team that expects the surgeon in the conference, not only in the OR.
• A pathway to shape protocols and, with results, program growth.

If you want your next cases judged by recovery, not résumé length, apply with a current CV and a brief note on the outcomes you are proudest to own.