Building a clinical cardiothoracic surgical program: A multi-institutional model

Building a multi-institutional cardiothoracic surgical program has the same guiding principles and values as a traditional single institutional program: ensuring high-quality patient care, training and fostering residents, recruiting and retaining quality faculty, and contributing to basic and clinical research. With a well-designed infrastructure and support system, this more complicated type of organization may permit academic cardiothoracic surgical programs to compete effectively and grow in a constantly changing economic and political environment. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2001:121:S8-11)