Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesia (ACTA) Fellowship 2026 Discussion

[airtraq]

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What sort of questions have people been asked at interviews?

 

[Polliwanker]

What sort of questions have people been asked at interviews?

What are your career plans, why cardiac anesthesia, what are you looking for a in a program, tell me about this experience listed on your application, is Dr. X still at your program?

 

[Drwine]

What sort of questions have people been asked at interviews?

‘Recall a time when you were assigned a task outside of your job description. How did you handle the situation? What was the outcome?’

‘Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something you had never done before. How did you react? What did you learn?’

 

[NicholasPavona]

What sort of questions have people been asked at interviews?

Have you seen the "deez nuts" video? Do you believe he "got 'eeem" as depicted in the video?

 

[veletri]

any non-dual applicants heard back from MGH and BWH?

 

[gas_u_up]

any non-dual applicants heard back from MGH and BWH?

It's March now and still nothing in the thread about this.. are they super late getting invites out or am i cooked

 

[questionsforthee]

It's March now and still nothing in the thread about this.. are they super late getting invites out or am i cooked

One of the recent programs I interviewed at (large institution) said that they are still working on a lot of application files and expect interviews to go up until May. I'm waiting myself on a few more programs to hear back from.

 

[jbw8qm]

It's March now and still nothing in the thread about this.. are they super late getting invites out or am i cooked

I am cardiac only and applied to Brigham (not MGH). Got offered an interview last week.

 

[veletri]

safe to say interview season is finishing up?

are people doing thank you emails after interviews? I don't want to be bombarding them with emails but starting rethink my strategy

 

[nywst]

safe to say interview season is finishing up?

are people doing thank you emails after interviews? I don't want to be bombarding them with emails but starting rethink my strategy

I do not plan on writing any thank you emails. What are people’s thoughts on telling your top rank program that you are ranking them number one? I remember that was something people did for residency apps.

Also any programs ask for CA2 ITE scores?

 

[qkd9002]

I do not plan on writing any thank you emails. What are people’s thoughts on telling your top rank program that you are ranking them number one? I remember that was something people did for residency apps.

Also any programs ask for CA2 ITE scores?

Telling your top rank they are your #1 could help only if you're a very competitive applicant. So far, only Uconn has asked for CA2 ITE but I'm sure more will.

 

[chasing hearts]

I do not plan on writing any thank you emails. What are people’s thoughts on telling your top rank program that you are ranking them number one? I remember that was something people did for residency apps.

Also any programs ask for CA2 ITE scores?

Last year CCF also asked for CA2 ITE scores.

I didn't write any thank you notes last year and don't think it made any difference. I ended up matching to my top choice.

 

[zaitoun]

Is there an ACTA spreadsheet or any resource online that for people to share information regarding each program?

 

[veletri]

thoughts on mgh vs bwh vs bi?

 

[airtraq]

anyone get any "rank to match emails?"

 

[NicholasPavona]

anyone get any "rank to match emails?"

No

 

[notevenasingleletter]

Was told that I would be “highly ranked” but don’t know how much weight should be put into it…

 

[Polliwanker]

Was told that I would be “highly ranked” but don’t know how much weight should be put into it…

Same. Residency match communication scarred me so I'm not putting much hope into it.

 

[Drwine]

thoughts on mgh vs bwh vs bi?

I am not sure of the exact timeline, but the MGH and BWH departments are in the process of becoming one.

 

[Drwine]

Was told that I would be “highly ranked” but don’t know how much weight should be put into it…

Not a guarantee for that program, but if you have applied to several programs, you will match if a program thinks highly of you.

 

[nywst]

How common are these rank emails? Second guessing myself since I didn’t get one.

 

[Anew4215]

Working on my rank list...anyone have any thoughts/insight these programs per chance apart from location: U Miami, Mt. Sinai? I know they didn't have good reps in the past, but had heard it had changed, so wanted to confirm.

 

[Anew4215]

Also any thoughts on sending emails for ranking a place #1? Like I hope it's not too late, and also that people actually send these.

 

[notevenasingleletter]

Anyone recently received more post-interview communications? Starting to feel like March 2022 all over again 😂

 

[Drwine]

Anyone recently received more post-interview communications? Starting to feel like March 2022 all over again 😂

I communicated with applicants whom I liked and who would be a good fit. Some interviews were almost 6 months ago, and I wanted to let them know we are still interested.

 

[Polliwanker]

Rank lists are due today. Best of luck to everyone!

I wonder if programs find out match results earlier than we do.

 

[Decimus]

SF Match website now says match day is June 20th instead of June 19th.
Can anyone confirm?
It definitely originally said June 19th.

 

[Polliwanker]

SF Match website now says match day is June 20th instead of June 19th.
Can anyone confirm?
It definitely originally said June 19th.

It definitely used to say June 19th but they probably moved it for the holiday.

 

[Drwine]

Congratulations to everyone who matched.😀 The short term loss will be worth it in the long run. I am beginning the fourth year of work that I wouldn't have done if I didn't do a fellowship almost 40 years ago.

 

[ToKingdomCome]

How many open spots were there?

 

[Polliwanker]

How many open spots were there?

Nothing posted on SF match yet as far as I can tell.

Also for future applicants - the match results came via email at 9:00am PST on match day.

 

[abolt18]

How many open spots were there?

Post match vacancies will be posted June 23 according to the website.

 

[DesForTheTaste]

How many open spots were there?

There were 7 unmatched spots this year, down from 12 last year and 25 the year before.

 

[NicholasPavona]

There were 7 unmatched spots this year, down from 12 last year and 25 the year before.

Getting more "competitive" I see.

 

[ToKingdomCome]

Getting more "competitive" I see.

is cornell a bad place to train? I feel like they were unfilled last year too?

 

[student4life0800]

Haven’t heard anything from the program yet, I’m assuming that’s normal?

 

[Anew4215]

is cornell a bad place to train? I feel like they were unfilled last year too?

Very curious too about some of these openings like Tufts, Cornell, Loyola, Jefferson etc...

 

[Anew4215]

Look like a spot in NYU is suddenly open starting tomorrow...

 

[ToKingdomCome]

Look like a spot in NYU is suddenly open starting tomorrow...

dang. id love to go back and do a CT fellowship, but being treated like a trainee and pay sounds less cool

 

[abolt18]

dang. id love to go back and do a CT fellowship, but being treated like a trainee and pay sounds less cool

It is..... Annoying. But you just have to set your pride aside and focus on the learning.

 

[ToKingdomCome]

It is..... Annoying. But you just have to set your pride aside and focus on the learning.

Nah I make too much at this point

 

[kb1900]

is cornell a bad place to train? I feel like they were unfilled last year too?

Bad relationship with surgeons that leadership discloses as a “non-issue” while the fellows paint a different picture. I did not rank them 2 years ago.

 

[JOHNBROCHILL]

Bad relationship with surgeons that leadership discloses as a “non-issue” while the fellows paint a different picture. I did not rank them 2 years ago.

Same issue 6 years ago. I trained nearby and we had Cornell alumni telling our CA2s applying cardiac to avoid them. I see it hasn’t gotten better.

 

[ToKingdomCome]

Bad relationship with surgeons that leadership discloses as a “non-issue” while the fellows paint a different picture. I did not rank them 2 years ago.

Surgeons just talk down and look down at the fellows ?

 

[Anew4215]

My PD told me to avoid ranking any of the big programs in NYC. And to avoid a lot of "big" names in general for being so toxic. It's a broad stroke for sure to paint, but I can defintiely see CT anesthesia fellowship being emotionally draining

 

[nimbus]

My PD told me to avoid ranking any of the big programs in NYC. And to avoid a lot of "big" names in general for being so toxic. It's a broad stroke for sure to paint, but I can defintiely see CT anesthesia fellowship being emotionally draining

Which programs did they recommend?

 

[Anew4215]

Definitely not the big 4 in NYC, and "big names" as I had some peers who did well in residency, but were extremely miserable at some of the big wig names

 

[jiafwang]

Very curious too about some of these openings like Tufts, Cornell, Loyola, Jefferson etc...

I don’t know about other places, I can tell you that Jefferson’s cardiac program is growing significantly, they have acquired a famous cardiac surgeon Joseph Bavaria recently, and he brought in two new surgeons with him. They are expanding their CVICU to accommodate the volume.