• Vakhtang Tchantchaleishvili, Bryan Barrus, Peter A Knight, Carolyn E Jones, Thomas J Watson, and George L Hicks.
• Department of Surgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY.
• J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg.. 2013 Oct 1;146(4):753-8.

ObjectiveDuring the past 5 years, 6-year integrated cardiothoracic surgery residency programs have increased in number and popularity.MethodsTo understand the background and motivation of the applicants for 6-year integrated programs, we surveyed 80 candidates interviewing for Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited 6-year integrated cardiothoracic surgery residency programs for the 2012 match season, with 36 respondents completing the survey.ResultsThe applicants interviewed for 6-year integrated programs had peer-reviewed publications (91.7%) and were interested in academic careers (91.4%), dedicated research time (58.3%), and cardiac surgery (66.7%). The time saved in training was considered an advantage of the 6-year integrated cardiothoracic surgery residency programs, although concern was present about the development of the mature, well-rounded cardiothoracic surgeon.ConclusionsWe found that most of the candidates for 6-year integrated cardiothoracic surgery residency were young, high-achieving individuals oriented toward academic careers with a significant interest in dedicated research time and cardiac surgery.Copyright © 2013 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

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