Previous Role: General Thoracic Surgery Fellow

Previous Role: Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Previous Role: Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident

Current Role/Institution: Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center

Describe 1-2 flagship studies you worked on: 
1) Differences in optimal timing of post-surgical surveillance for limited stage lung cancer patients and associations with outcomes. 2) Looked at recurrence patterns in patients with resected lung cancer and genetic mutation status 

What did you enjoy most about your training? 
It was an honor to work with and train under leaders in the field like Drs. Backhus and Berry. It was clear they were both highly invested in training the next generation of thoracic surgeons both in and out of the operating room. 

Previous Role: Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellow - General Thoracic

Current Role/Institution: Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

Previous Role: Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellow - General Thoracic

Current Role/Institution: Attending Thoracic Surgeon, Massachusetts General Hospital; Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Describe 1-2 flagship studies you worked on: 
I presented a study titled, "A National Analysis of Treatment Patterns and Outcomes for Patients 80 Years or Older with Esophageal Cancer." This was presented at the Western Thoracic Surgical Association's Meeting in 2021 and was awarded the Norman Shumway Best Presentation Award. The senior investigator on this study was Dr. Douglas Liou and I learned a tremendous amount about clinical research from him.

What did you enjoy most about your training?
I had such an amazing time learning from world class clinical researchers and faculty in the Stanford Thoracic Surgery Clinical Research Program led by Drs. Leah Backhus and Mark Berry. They have done such a fantastic job building an environment that allows all trainees to learn the skills necessary to be high impact clinical researchers. 

What advice would you give to those who are considering joining the team? 
The faculty and the researchers in this program are world class. There is also tremendous support from the staff. The goal of the program is to work on the most exciting projects in thoracic surgery and this program has a proven track record of developing studies from the initial concept design to publication in the most impactful journals.

Previous Role: Lab Assistant

Current Role/Institution: First year medical student, Yale School of Medicine

Describe 1-2 flagship studies you worked on:
One of my favorite aspects of my role was having opportunities to work on several types of research, including basic science and clinical outcomes studies. Dr. Joseph Shrager, the Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery and my supervisor, runs a lab and a clinical trial that is investigating how to slow or halt changes that occur in patients’ diaphragms while they are intubated for surgery. I collected and processed samples from trial patients’ surgeries so that the tissue was ready for analysis by Dr. Shrager’s lab at the Palo Alto VA. The thoracic surgeons and post-doctoral research fellows are also continually running clinical outcomes studies to improve care for surgical and oncologic patients. I am leading a project with Dr. Leah Backhus, Co-Director of the Thoracic Surgery Clinical Research Program, who is an expert in clinical research and health disparities studies. We are working to characterize technical challenges and patient experience with rapidly incorporating telemedicine in the Stanford Thoracic Oncology Program so that all our patients continue to receive the highest quality of care.

What did you enjoy most about your training?
I think there were three key things I enjoyed the most about working in the Division of Thoracic Surgery: the variety of the research, the incredible mentorship, and the strong sense of family. As I mentioned, the seven surgeons in the Division perform a variety of groundbreaking research, from using animal circulation to regenerate lungs for transplant to applying artificial intelligence to understand lung cancer recurrence to using retrospective data to provide better care for patients undergoing complex esophageal and lung cancer resections. As the lab assistant for the Division, I was fortunate to have a role in many of these exciting projects. The surgeons were always willing to answer questions, about these projects and about surgery and medicine at large. They took active interest in my goal to enter medical school and they were there every step of the way to support and encourage me as I went through the admissions process.  The faculty foster an incredibly supportive environment, and everyone in the Thoracic team, clinic nurses to admins, were people I enjoyed working with and look forward to staying in touch with throughout the rest of my career.

What advice would you give to those who are considering joining the team? 
I firmly believe this is one of the best pre-graduate-school positions available, whether you’re interested in an MD, a PhD, or a DNP. There is unparalleled research and clinical exposure with a team of assiduous and compassionate experts. As with many opportunities in medicine, you get out what you put in. The faculty in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery are working on field-leading projects and there are abundant opportunities for engagement with their research. Be present, be curious, and be diligent, and you will be able to make incredible strides in your development while also having a greater impact on science and medicine.