5 answers
Kelz
Student
Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa
3
Questions
Updated
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How to become a cardiac surgeon?
Im debating on which field of medicine to specialize in, and being a cardiologist is a big one. I want to know the qualifications, time frame and any other need-to-know information.
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5 answers
Doc Frick
Career Coach and Mentor
1942
Answers
California, CA
Updated
Doc’s Answer
It's not an easy road to become a heart surgeon Kelz. After four or more years of medical school, you need to complete a specialized cardiothoracic residency program that can last another six to eight years. These residency programs are highly competitive and the number of cardiothoracic residency programs are limited. While cardiothoracic surgery is glamorous and exciting, it’s definitely not for everyone. This is a highly demanding specialty with a great deal of hard work. Surgeries are long, and patients are sick, often not having favorable outcomes. You will have more patients die than compared to other specialties. And you won’t have a predictable schedule. In this line of work, emergency surgeries in the middle of the night are not uncommon. Get ready to pull all-nighters and still operate the next day. The usual “9 to 5”, 40 hours per week does not apply here.
Cardiothoracic surgery is a pretty dope specialty. If you love big, epic operations, this is the field for you. Where else can you feel the heart beating in your hands, stop it, and then bring it back to life. Cardiothoracic surgery is also incredibly exciting with rapid innovation and new robotic and minimally invasive surgeries being developed regularly. In terms of patients, you’ll be working with the sickest of the sick. Particularly with heart failure and heart attack patients, who are at death’s door, you’ll be saving lives. For this reason, it’s highly rewarding and cardiothoracic surgeons build a strong bond with their patients. However, you should also be able to stomach when cases occasionally go bad. If you love complex work with multiple moving parts and teamwork, cardiothoracic surgery has you covered. Not only are you working with the nurses and anesthesiologists, but you’ll have the perfusionist manning the cardiopulmonary bypass machine and robot assistance for minimally invasive surgery. Additionally, these patients require close post-op monitoring and care, so you’ll be working with several other members of the healthcare team to ensure a safe recovery.
CONCLUSION
To decide if cardiothoracic surgery is a good fit for you Kelz. Are an adrenaline junkie who loves big cases, a fast-paced lifestyle but isn’t afraid of standing for hours doing longer surgeries in the middle of the night, then cardiothoracic surgery may be a good fit.
Cardiothoracic surgery is a pretty dope specialty. If you love big, epic operations, this is the field for you. Where else can you feel the heart beating in your hands, stop it, and then bring it back to life. Cardiothoracic surgery is also incredibly exciting with rapid innovation and new robotic and minimally invasive surgeries being developed regularly. In terms of patients, you’ll be working with the sickest of the sick. Particularly with heart failure and heart attack patients, who are at death’s door, you’ll be saving lives. For this reason, it’s highly rewarding and cardiothoracic surgeons build a strong bond with their patients. However, you should also be able to stomach when cases occasionally go bad. If you love complex work with multiple moving parts and teamwork, cardiothoracic surgery has you covered. Not only are you working with the nurses and anesthesiologists, but you’ll have the perfusionist manning the cardiopulmonary bypass machine and robot assistance for minimally invasive surgery. Additionally, these patients require close post-op monitoring and care, so you’ll be working with several other members of the healthcare team to ensure a safe recovery.
CONCLUSION
To decide if cardiothoracic surgery is a good fit for you Kelz. Are an adrenaline junkie who loves big cases, a fast-paced lifestyle but isn’t afraid of standing for hours doing longer surgeries in the middle of the night, then cardiothoracic surgery may be a good fit.
James Hanson
Pediatric Intensive Care Physician; Consultant
160
Answers
Oakland, California
Updated
James’s Answer
Others have emphasized the long road to becoming a heart surgeon. The good news is that the road itself is fascinating with many positive challenges as well as negative challenges. I have had the good fortune as a pediatric intensivist to work with pediatric thoracic surgeons that are world-class. The care of these patients is very much a team sport to provide genetics, cardiology, surgery, intensive care, psychosocial care... Many patients with heart disease also have other systems with significant problems, so one learns pulmonology, nephrology, gastroenterology, infectious disease, rheumatology, hematology...
Enjoy the journey, and be open to changing paths along the way as your experiences guide you. I certainly did not expect to become a pediatric intensivist until well into my residency - after medical school.
Enjoy the journey, and be open to changing paths along the way as your experiences guide you. I certainly did not expect to become a pediatric intensivist until well into my residency - after medical school.
That's good to know, thank you. I'm still debating on which path haha.
Kelz
Karin P.
Lecturer, Academic Advisor, Career Coach
1093
Answers
Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
Updated
Karin’s Answer
Hi Kelz,
The education to become a cardiac surgeon is a long one, but certainly a fascinating profession.
Your first step would be to attend medical school. In South Africa, it takes 6 years to earn your Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB). Universities with medical programs include University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand, University of the Free State, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Walter Sisulu University, University of Stellenbosch, University of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela University and Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.
Admission to medical school is competitive. You'll need excellent marks in matric (NSC), especially in math and sciences, as well as a good score in the National Bench Mark Test (NBT). Each medical school has their own admission criteria, so you need to look up schools you are interested in.
Some examples for schools in Gauteng:
https://www.wits.ac.za/course-finder/undergraduate/health/medicine-and-surgery
https://www.up.ac.za/programmes/programme/10130003/year/2025
https://www.smu.ac.za/schools/medicine/medicine-undergraduate-admission-requirements
After graduation with your MBChB, you have 2 years of medical internship plus 1 year of community service. These will be allocated to you by the Department of Health.
Next comes training in your specialization.
If you want to become a cardiologist, you would do a fellowship in internal medicine (4 years).
Becoming a pediatric cardiologist requires training in pediatrics (4 years) as well as further training in pediatric cardiology (3 years).
If you want to become a cardiac surgeon, you need training as a general surgeon (5 years) followed by training in cardiothoracic surgery (2-3 years).
There is no need to worry about your exact specialization just yet. Focus on doing well in matric so you can get into medical school. You'll have 6 years in medical school to learn and experience the world of medicine. You'll have figured out your favorite specialization(s) before you graduate.
I hope this helps! All the best to you!
KP
https://www.saheart.org/menu/hcp_education
https://cmsa.co.za/college-of-cardiothoracic-surgeons/
https://cmsa.co.za/fellowship-of-the-college-of-cardiothoracic-surgeons-of-south-africa-fc-cardiosa/
The education to become a cardiac surgeon is a long one, but certainly a fascinating profession.
Your first step would be to attend medical school. In South Africa, it takes 6 years to earn your Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB). Universities with medical programs include University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand, University of the Free State, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Walter Sisulu University, University of Stellenbosch, University of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela University and Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.
Admission to medical school is competitive. You'll need excellent marks in matric (NSC), especially in math and sciences, as well as a good score in the National Bench Mark Test (NBT). Each medical school has their own admission criteria, so you need to look up schools you are interested in.
Some examples for schools in Gauteng:
https://www.wits.ac.za/course-finder/undergraduate/health/medicine-and-surgery
https://www.up.ac.za/programmes/programme/10130003/year/2025
https://www.smu.ac.za/schools/medicine/medicine-undergraduate-admission-requirements
After graduation with your MBChB, you have 2 years of medical internship plus 1 year of community service. These will be allocated to you by the Department of Health.
Next comes training in your specialization.
If you want to become a cardiologist, you would do a fellowship in internal medicine (4 years).
Becoming a pediatric cardiologist requires training in pediatrics (4 years) as well as further training in pediatric cardiology (3 years).
If you want to become a cardiac surgeon, you need training as a general surgeon (5 years) followed by training in cardiothoracic surgery (2-3 years).
There is no need to worry about your exact specialization just yet. Focus on doing well in matric so you can get into medical school. You'll have 6 years in medical school to learn and experience the world of medicine. You'll have figured out your favorite specialization(s) before you graduate.
I hope this helps! All the best to you!
KP
Karin recommends the following next steps:
Thank you a lot, I really appreciate it. At least I have quite a while before decoding om my specialization.
Kelz
You are very welcome! Keep an eye out for open days at universities near you. You can also contact admissions if you have more specific questions.
Wits, e.g. also has a schools liaison team:
https://www.wits.ac.za/schoolsliaison/
Karin P.
Doctors Find Early Success With Partial Heart Transplants https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/well/partial-heart-transplants.html
Karin P.
James Constantine Frangos
SOFTWARE ENGINEER SINCE 1972; NUTRITIONIST SINCE 1976.
7094
Answers
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Updated
James Constantine’s Answer
Good Day Kelz!
Yes, you have to go and pick a difficult one! Possibly the hardest career selection. Apologies my previous answer just mysteriously vanished. What is required is 13 to 15 years after high school to become qualified as a cardiac surgeon. The intensity of work does not cease there either. This exacts tolls on individuals. It also taxes relationships due to longer periods of separation from your spouse and family. There may frequently be a requirement for a surgical procedure to be quite protracted, in excess of 8 hours duration.
As the surgeon is operating for such a long duration, it becomes foreseeably impossible to maintain work quality due to the duration of the procedure. This is one issue affecting quality of care. Another is psychological burnout, a scenario that can affect many professions. Consumption of caffeine does not rectify the situation. Sleep, rest and relaxation does.
Enhanced nutrition is a reparatory stratagem that rectifies neurological damage. The human brain requires 102 nutrients to function well indeed. Intellectual quotients are not static either and usually respond by increments with enhanced nutrition, also work efficiency and manual dexterity improves, as does eye-hand coordination in the performance of fine suturing with 5/0 sutures.
Interesting, Dr Christian Barnard worked in South Africa too!
GOD BLESS!
Yes, you have to go and pick a difficult one! Possibly the hardest career selection. Apologies my previous answer just mysteriously vanished. What is required is 13 to 15 years after high school to become qualified as a cardiac surgeon. The intensity of work does not cease there either. This exacts tolls on individuals. It also taxes relationships due to longer periods of separation from your spouse and family. There may frequently be a requirement for a surgical procedure to be quite protracted, in excess of 8 hours duration.
As the surgeon is operating for such a long duration, it becomes foreseeably impossible to maintain work quality due to the duration of the procedure. This is one issue affecting quality of care. Another is psychological burnout, a scenario that can affect many professions. Consumption of caffeine does not rectify the situation. Sleep, rest and relaxation does.
Enhanced nutrition is a reparatory stratagem that rectifies neurological damage. The human brain requires 102 nutrients to function well indeed. Intellectual quotients are not static either and usually respond by increments with enhanced nutrition, also work efficiency and manual dexterity improves, as does eye-hand coordination in the performance of fine suturing with 5/0 sutures.
Interesting, Dr Christian Barnard worked in South Africa too!
GOD BLESS!
Wow, that's a bit hectic. Thank you for telling me, I'll keep that mind mind. The other fields I want to go into have similar qualities, haha.
Kelz
You shall come out on top of it, Kelz, there shall be no worries at all!
James Constantine Frangos
Kufamuyeke K Nalishuwa
Nutrition
4
Answers
Lusaka, Lusaka Province, Zambia
Updated
Kufamuyeke K’s Answer
To become a heart doctor who does surgery (cardiac surgeon), you need to:
Finish 4 years of college.
Go to medical school for 4 years.
Do 5-7 years of surgery training.
Then do 1-2 years extra training just for heart surgery.
It takes about 14 years after high school.
You must work hard, like science and care about helping people.
Finish 4 years of college.
Go to medical school for 4 years.
Do 5-7 years of surgery training.
Then do 1-2 years extra training just for heart surgery.
It takes about 14 years after high school.
You must work hard, like science and care about helping people.
Thank you so much, I'll be sure to keep this in mind.
Kelz