Scott R. Chicotka, M.D.
EDUCATION
BA, University of San Diego, BS, BA Electrical Engineering 1999-20040
MD, Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland 2008-2012
RESIDENCY TRAINING
General Surgery Residency, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York 2012-2018
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York 2015-2016
Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship, University of California, San Diego 2018-2021
LICENSES
Medical Board of California
CERTIFICATIONS
American Board of Surgery – General Surgery – 2019
American Board of Thoracic surgery *eligible and pending exams*
Originally born and raised in New York City, grew up loving the outdoors and surfing off the east coast (yes even in the winter), playing ice hockey, and rugby. I attended college at the University of San Diego where I obtained a BS in Electrical engineering. After college I worked as an engineer for Intuitive Surgical on one of the earlier iterations of the DaVinci robot. I had always been drawn to medicine and had enrolled in a PhD program in biomedical engineering. 1 week after the start of courses I realized my path was instead to become a physician, so I decided to make the change. I attended the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and due to my Irish heritage and family I had originally planned to remain in Ireland. I had a particular proclivity toward surgery, and this led me to return to the US for general surgery residency at Columbia University in New York City. While at Columbia I gravitated toward cardiac surgery, and the emerging use of ECMO for heart and lung failure. I spent an extra year during residency for an ECMO/transplant fellowship year specializing all utilizations, configurations, and management of ECMO particularly ECMO transport, treatment of ARDS, and bridge to transplant. My research involved clinical outcomes of ECMO as well as ex-vivo pig lab where we designed and successfully utilized ECMO as cross circulation to support pig lungs outside of the body for 5 days, and successfully transplanted them after this time… this had never been done before. I joined the US Navy and served as a reserve surgeon achieving a rank as a Lieutenant Commander. I married my wife, Katy, while in residency and our daughter, Aria, was born during my chief year.
I was elected the administrative Chief resident and after the successful completion of residency I moved back to San Diego for cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. While at UCSD I helped developed and start their ECMO transport program. My original intent was to pursue a life of thoracic transplant, however I discovered this endeavor pulled me further and further away from my family. In my final year of CT surgery training I found the happiness of balancing work, family, and life and decided to focus on combined general cardiac and thoracic surgery. My training at UCSD provided me with interest in several valuable skillsets: minimally invasive robotic thoracic surgery, laser lead extraction, continued ECMO experience/heart failure therapies, and complex cardiac surgery care.
As of July 2021 I joined California Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons group in Ventura CA. I am excited to join Dr. Bushnell and Dr. Wan in their practice as they serve an amazing community. I am happy to bring the experience I have as well as an enthusiasm for teaching residents in an outstanding community setting. I have found this to an amazing location to support my hobbies of surfing, hiking, and astrophotography and I am excited to live in and support this community.