Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Fellowship in partnership with Medtronic

The Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Fellowship, in partnership with Medtronic, supports a newly graduated cardiothoracic surgeon to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge in the surgical management of patients with coronary artery disease, with special interest in off-pump and minimal invasive techniques. A Fellow will have an exciting opportunity to work under the guidance of leading surgeon-educators in this field. Specifically, the fellow will gain foundational knowledge of the pathophysiology of coronary artery disease, the rationale for its surgical treatment and first-hand experience in OPCAB.

Acquired Cardiac Disease

Summary

• Application dates:

  1st March – 1st May 2025
• Grant:

  €5,200
• Location:

  Santa Cruz Hospital Portugal
• Duration:

  4 weeks
• Start Date:

  From January 2026

Fellowship Overview

This Fellowship includes a two-week internship at a high-volume centre. You are also required to attend the EACTS Annual Meeting in the same year as your Fellowship.

Funding

This fellowship includes a financial contribution of €5,200 towards living and travel costs for the two-week placement. All courses and training offered by Medtronic will be subsidised, and you will receive a travel bursary to cover the cost of your travel and accommodation at the EACTS Annual Meeting. You will arrange travel and accommodation.

International collaboration and knowledge exchange is vital to advance education and professional expertise, so it is a great honour to be a recipient of this fellowship. I have a strong interest in off-pump CABG surgery and a desire to establish an off-pump CABG programme at my institution in North Macedonia. The opportunity to spend time with outstanding experts in the field will help to progress this ambition and enable me to build relationships within our cardiac community.”

Vasil Papestiev, University Clinic of Cardiac Surgery, Republic of North Macedonia

Application and Selection

In order to apply for this fellowship there are some essential criteria you must meet:

• Be an EACTS member with up-to-date membership payment
• Have a partnership with Anaesthesiologists and Cardiologist at own centre
• Have hospital resource support: Up-to-date coronary artery imaging tools
• Be fluent in English

Applicants who possess the following desirable criteria would be of particular interest:

• Ability to set up an OPCAB program in his / her institution
• High volume surgeon (>50 CABG cases / year)
• Currently working at high volume centres (>150 CABG cases per year)
• Commitment to complete the whole learning pathway

In order to complete your application, you must submit the following documents*:

• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Letter of interest detailing the way in which you meet the above application criteria, along with your career aspirations, as well as how you believe the Fellowship will impact your career.
• Letter of support from head of training/department
• Operative experience

*Please ensure that all documents submitted are written in English, and that they are submitted either as word documents or PDF. We do not accept images or handwritten applications.  We are unable to provide advice or guidance about visa applications, so please ensure that you understand the visa requirements before applying for this Fellowship.

Evaluation and Feedback

A structured evaluation of the activities and feedback from the Fellow will be developed. At the end of the Fellowship, Fellows will produce a full report (min. 1200 words) on their experience which they will present during the EACTS Annual Meeting.