McMaster Cardiac Surgery

McMaster Cardiac Surgery
Where Education Meets Innovation

About Us

A message from our
Program Director.

“McMaster Cardiac Surgery is a tertiary cardiac surgical program that services Hamilton, Burlington, St. Catherines, and the greater Niagara Region. We serve a population of nearly 2 million people in Southern Ontario.

Our case mix spans the breadth of cardiac surgery and includes minimally invasive, off pump, major aortic, transcatheter, arrhythmia, and general cardiac surgery. We have a vibrant group of faculty and residents that all function as a large extended family and we pride ourselves in offering excellent clinical care in a high paced training environment.”

- Dr. Iqbal Jaffer

Clinical

The Division of Cardiac Surgery is based at the Hamilton General Hospital site (part of Hamilton Health Sciences). We are a regional program serving patients in central southern Ontario with an catchment of around 1.5 million people. We are one of the highest volume centres in the province, performing around 1700 cases per year.

Our division performs the full spectrum of adult cardiac surgery with the exception of durable mechanical circulatory support and transplantation. Our team has developed expertise in the specialized areas of:

Off-pump CABG
Minimally-invasive CABG
Minimally-invasive AVR and MVR
Ross Procedure
Valve-sparing root replacement
Open and hybrid aortic surgery
Trans-catheter aortic valve replacement

Education

Our division provides educational opportunities to residents and medical students.

Our residency program accepts 1-2 residents per year and prides itself on being a small program with a large case volume. This allows trainees to develop close relationships with the attending staff, thus providing substantive and high-quality clinical training experiences. We are also fortunate to collaborate closely with and learn from our colleagues in ICU, cardiology, vascular and thoracic surgery. Our training program is structured according to the Royal College’s Competence by Design framework.

We also provide opportunities for medical students to rotate through our service on elective rotations!

Please visit the “Training” page for more details.

Research

As the epicentre of evidence-based medicine, McMaster University is world-renown for clinical research. The Division of Cardiac Surgery is no different, as our faculty have led numerous international, multi-centre trials (CORONARY, SIRS, LAAOS III) that have addressed some of the most important questions in cardiac surgery and perioperative care.

As such, there are plenty of opportunities for trainees to get involved in research with a supportive infrastructure through our Minion-CIA research group. Our trainees frequently publish and present at local, national and international conferences.

Click here to schedule an elective with us

Meet the Team.

Dr. Richard Whitlock

STAFF CARDIAC SURGEON, DIVISION HEAD & CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR IN CARDIOVASCULAR SURGERY
Dr. Victor Chu

STAFF CARDIAC SURGEON & CLINICAL HEAD OF SERVICE
Dr. Adel Dyub

STAFF CARDIAC SURGEON
Dr. Dominic Parry

STAFF CARDIAC SURGEON
Dr. Iqbal Jaffer

PROGRAM DIRECTOR & STAFF CARDIAC SURGEON
Dr. Hatim Alraddadi

STAFF CARDIAC SURGEON
Dr. Nezar Alsaeedi

RESIDENT (PGY6)
Dr. Anas Fakiha

RESIDENT (PGY6)
Dr. Mariam Alboom

RESIDENT (PGY6)
Dr. Adam Eqbal

RESIDENT (PGY6)
Dr. Rachel Eikelboom

RESIDENT (PGY5)
Dr. Aiswarya Madhu

RESIDENT (PGY5)
Dr. Charlotte McEwen

RESIDENT (PGY4)
Dr. Abeer Alfadhli

RESIDENT (PGY3)
Dr. Mohammed Kamalia

RESIDENT (PGY2)
Dr. Shian Ming Chen

RESIDENT (PGY1)

About the training program

What to expect

Trainees in the McMaster Cardiac Surgery residency program can expect to be fully immersed in all aspects of surgical education from their day one of their residencies. Not only does McMaster provide learners with the opportunity to learn about complex surgical procedures and technical skills within the OR, but it also promises to provide a platform for trainees to pursue interests outside of the operating room to enrich their training experiences.

McMaster Cardiac Surgery also has a proud culture of mentorship, and therefore trainees can expect to form lifelong bonds within the field of cardiac surgery as well as outside of cardiac surgery as they go on to pursue their careers as surgeons.

Rotations

Within the first 4 years of training, residents can expect to rotate through a wide rotation of specialties including Cardiology, Electrophysiology, Vascular Surgery, Echocardiography, Thoracic Surgery, Cardiac Anesthesia, Intensive Care including CVICU, and more!

The last two years of residency is an opportunity for trainees to fully immerse themselves in Cardiac Surgery and therefore majority of this time is spent on Cardiac Surgery however during this time, trainees will also spend some time rotating through specialties such as Heart failure/Mechanical Circulatory Support and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.

Surgical Foundations in CBD

Trainees joining the Cardiac Surgery Residency Program will be part of the Competency-By-Design training pathway - a novel approach which breaks down specialty training into a series of integrated stages. Trainees will be expected to complete Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA’s) as part of the Cardiac Surgery (specialty-specific) training pathway as well as the Surgical Foundations training pathway. Surgical Foundations encompass the first two years of surgical residency training (PGY1 & PGY2).

Academic Year

Built into the Cardiac Surgery residency training program at McMaster is a dedicated “academic year” in which trainees are free of all clinical duties and are encouraged and expected to pursue their academic interests outside of the OR. This usually takes place during the PGY3 year. Depending on their chosen pathways, trainees are able to expand this past the one-year mark if required. Over the years, trainees from our program have pursued a variety of academic interests ranging from Research Methodology, Clinical Epidemiology, Medical Innovation, Business Administration, and Quality Improvement.