Cardiothoracic surgery training in Israel: A critical look at the past, aiming for a better future.

Training the next generation of cardiothoracic surgeons is a global persistent challenge. Major issues, including length of training, decreasing volume of cases, shift toward high-risk, complex, and less-invasive procedures, increased specialization, and uncertainty with regard to future employment, are relevant and affect residency training programs in the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world. To produce high-quality, mature, and qualified surgeons, these challenges mandate an ongoing effort by our specialty leadership aimed at identifying creative solutions and adapting the current residency training curricula and methodology to the dynamic changes in our field. The current situation in Israel is discussed with the hope that sharing our experience might be useful and lead to adoption of some of our solutions by other countries.