Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology is a sub-specialty of the anesthesiology discipline in the field of medicine and this field is devoted to post-operative care, intra-operative care and pre-operative care of adult patients, who undergo cardiothoracic surgery. It is the most demanding and intellectually challenging sub-specialty in the main branch of Anesthesiology.

DM in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology is a super-specialty course in the field of medicine offered by a few medical colleges in India and the names of government colleges offering this course in India are given below:

• Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Kolkata

• Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, Bangalore

• All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

Eligibility criteria for seeking admission to the DM in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology:

For seeking admission to the DM in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology course in the above-mentioned medical colleges, candidates must have completed their MD in Anesthesiology from an institution approved by the Medical Council of India.

Admission Procedure:

Admission of students to the DM in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology course is done based on merit secured by the students in the entrance examination, which assess both the clinical and theoretical skills of the candidates.

Basic curriculum of DM in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology course:

Some of the basic subjects covered under the DM in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology course are:

• Coagulation

• Biochemistry

• Physics

• Pharmacology

• Physiology

• Anatomy

• CPB – Pharmacokinetics during diagnostic, monitoring and CPB treatments involving therapeutic therapy and cardiology diagnostic

• Cardio pulmonary bypass

Role of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist:

Candidates who have completed their DM in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology are called as Cardiac Anesthesiologists and they play an important role during cardiac surgery in a hospital. They offer anesthesia to the patient, who is going to have cardiac surgery, keeps on monitoring the patients’ condition during the operation, and after the surgery until the patient comes to his consciousness. These professionals not only offer care to patients during cardiac surgery, but they also play a particular role in offering anesthesia care to patients with complex cardiac diseases like congestive heart failure, adult congenital heart diseases, valvular heart diseases, etc…

Job prospects after completion of DM in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology:

Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologists offer expert opinion during intra-operative cardiac arrest/hemodynamic instability by evaluating the heart functions of the patients. Therefore, these professionals are in great demand in multi-specialty and cardiac specialty hospitals and they are sometimes appointed as full-time professionals in hospitals or they are offered with the flexibility of visiting the hospitals only during a cardiac surgery. They can also get employment opportunities in medical colleges as lecturers.