The staff includes three full-time and two part-time cardiothoracic surgeons, as well as three cardiothoracic fellows. Sixty to seventy percent of patients undergoing cardiac surgery at Jefferson receive coronary artery bypass grafts. Twenty-five to thirty percent of patients undergo valve repair or replacement. Other procedures performed on the cardiac service include closure of cardiac septal defects, repair of acute and chronic diseases of the aorta, Patent Ductus Arteriosis ligations, cardiac pacemaker insertions and surgery for cardiovascular trauma. As special features of the program, the staff uses ventricular-assist devices and takes advantage of an air-transport system that includes Jefferson's roof-top helipad for emergency cardiac arrivals.

The cardiothoracic fellow directs all residents on this rotation. The PGY 1 resident assumes general patient-care duties in the cardiopulmonary service. The PGY 2 resident oversees the open-heart surgery patients in the SCCU and is responsible for critical care. Patient care and coordination of the ICCU/ step-down area, plus sternotomy and cannulation procedures, are responsibilities assigned to the PGY 4 resident.

At the end of three rotations, residents are thoroughly knowledgeable in the principles of preoperative cardiac-patient evaluation, from interpreting coronary angiograms to identifying candidates for coronary-artery and valve surgery. The residents also master essential skills in caring for open-heart surgery patients postoperatively, with extensive experience in managing ventilators, interpreting ECGs, supporting circulation mechanically and pharmacologically and in controlling dysrhythmias.

Six seminars and conferences per week supplement clinical training on the service. Current research in the division's lab involves studying the use of skeletal muscle to enhance left ventricular function.