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Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship

Overview of the Program

Welcome to the Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. This is a two-year ACGME-accredited program with one fellow accepted per year. We offer comprehensive training in cardiothoracic surgery and accept applicants in either cardiac or thoracic track. 

Our program provides exposure to a full spectrum of cardiothoracic procedures and boasts one of the highest cardiac surgery volumes in the Northeast—performing over 1700 cases a year; this includes more than 400 structural heart cases, half of which are performed with a mini-thoracotomy. On the thoracic side, we are proud to offer one of the nation’s only robotic tracheobronchoplasty experiences, in addition to a high volume of lobectomies, segmentectomies, and esophagectomies. With only one fellow on each service at any given time, trainees benefit from significant hands-on experience without competition for cases. 

Fellows primarily train at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, with additional opportunities to rotate at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Newark Beth Israel, further enriching the breadth of clinical exposure. 

 

Didactics 

  • Weekly lecture with an attending based on STS curriculum 

  • Weekly tumor board and heart failure conference 

  • Monthly journal club with Newark Beth Israel CT fellows 

  • Monthly M&M conference 

Accordion Content

  • Leonard Y Lee, MD
    James W. Mackenzie, M.D. Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery 

    Richard Lazzaro, MD
    Professor, Chief of Thoracic Surgery 

    Mark J Russo, MD
    Professor, Chief of Cardiac Surgery 

    Anthony Lemaire, MD
    Program Director, Associate Professor 

    John E Langenfeld, MD
    Associate Professor 

    Timothy Hughes, MD
    Assistant Professor 

    Hirohisa Ikegami, MD
    Assistant Professor 

    Ioannis Kontopidis, MD
    Assistant Professor 

    Benjamin Medina, MD
    Assistant Professor 

    Ashley J McCormack, MD 
    Assistant Professor 

    Gengo Sunagawa, MD
    Assistant Professor 

  • Alexander Byun, MD 
    Residency: Rutgers Health- New Jersey Medical School
    byunaj@rwjms.rutgers.edu 

     

    Tyler Draeger, MD (Starting 2025) 
    Residency: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, South Nassau 

     

    Sarah Halbert, MD (Starting 2026) 
    Residency: Medstar Georgetown/Washington Hospital Center 

    • 4 weeks of vacation per ACGME (divided into 2 weeks) 

    • Sponsored trip to AAST or STS 

    • 1 hour to NYC or Philadelphia by car/train 

Contact Us

Anthony Lemaire, MD
Program Director

Associate Professor of Surgery
Division of Cardiac Surgery

Alyssa Robinson
Residency Coordinator

Division of Cardiac Surgery
Email: adr162@rwjms.rutgers.edu