Young selected for national surgery education advisory board

J. Nilas Young, chief of cardiothoracic surgery and director of the UC Davis cardiothoracic surgery residency training program, has been selected to serve a two-year term as a member of the advisory board of the Joint Council on Thoracic Surgery Education.

The goals of the council are to define and improve cardiothoracic surgical resident training and continuing medical education for practicing cardiothoracic surgeons. According to Young, one of the council's most pressing challenges is to evolve cardiothoracic surgery residencies into programs that link general and specialty training right out of medical school, providing essential skills more quickly and reducing overall training time.

“Offering specialty training earlier is key to the success of today’s surgeons, who need broader medical and surgical skill sets than they have in the past,” said Young. “I look forward to helping our specialty set the national standards for that integrated approach.”