Prospective Residents Program Overview
Educational opportunities
- Skills labs including Kindheart/Intuitive Robotic Thoracic 101 Lobectomy course and Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons workshop (NOTSS)
- Fellows can attend one national conference every year, and others if they are presenting.
- Participate in the TSDA Boot Camp and UCLA West Coast Bootcamp.
- $1,000 per year Education Stipend
- Access to the Center for Advanced Surgical & Interventional Technology (CASIT).
- Teaching conferences are held every week along with Morbidity and Mortality conferences and Journal club is held once a month.
- Mock Orals and In-Training Exam Prep
UCLA West Coast Bootcamp
The UCLA Thoracic Surgery Fellowship Program holds a two day bootcamp prior to the start of the academic year. This two day intensive program was trialed for trainees from west coast programs and achieved great success.The program will include faculty from UCLA and other institutions. We invite you to review the curriculum for the bootcamp and consider attending this course prior to start of the new academic year.
Evaluations of the program
Fellows evaluate the curriculum and faculty performance via anonymous on-line evaluation forms completed at the end of each rotation. The director of the fellowship program reviews a summary of these evaluations. In addition, formal as well as informal individual meetings between residents and their program directors are conducted throughout the year to provide feedback to both the fellow and the Surgery Education Committee.
ACGME Competencies
Our program is designed around the six core competencies established by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. These six areas serve as the central framework for training and evaluation of our fellows.
Fellow Duty Hours
The Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Board of Directors approved institutional standards for trainee duty hours in February 2003, to be implemented by July 2003. Here at UCLA we have taken this charge very seriously. Fellow well-being has been a priority not only for the program director, but also for the Dean of Graduate Medical Education.
The fellows are asked to document work hours weekly on Medhub. Our fellowship remains in compliance with the ACGME work hour policy.
Retreat
Annual event discussing the program with faculty and trainees and with an overview of the program.
TSDA In-Training Exam
Thoracic trainees are given the Thoracic Surgery Director’s Association (TSDA) In-Training Exam once a year to evaluate trainees on their medical knowledge.