Sutter Health - Bay Area logo
Sutter Health - Bay Area
San Francisco, California

Physician, Cardiothoracic Surgery (San Francisco, CA)

SurgeryNo callFull-Time

Compensation

Pay not listed

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the pay range, the work setting, weekend coverage and time off.

Posted 7mo ago

Job Description

Opportunity Information

Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group is seeking a full-time, board-certified Cardiothoracic Surgery physician.

  • State-of-the-art medical center
  • Physician-led and collegial environment
  • Schedule flexibility
  • Full spectrum practice
  • Opportunity for rapid practice growth
  • Duties include outpatient and hospital-based

Qualifications

Board-certified Cardiothoracic Surgery

Minimum 3-5 years of experience

Join Us and Enjoy

  • Guaranteed salary for two years with production bonus
  • Shareholder eligible after two years
  • Shareholders enjoy very competitive, production-based income
  • Schedule flexibility and sabbaticals for work-life balance
  • Relocation allowance
  • Generous benefits package
  • 401K, cash-balance retirement plan, HSA

Organization Details

We are one of the largest multi-specialty medical groups in the country, made up of over 1,700 clinicians in 40+ specialties, in practices throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Our organization is nationally recognized for our excellence with multiple awards for quality of care, innovation, and leadership.

Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group is affiliated with Palo Alto Medical Foundation, a not-for-profit health care organization, providing operational and administrative support, including the latest technology, allowing physicians to focus on delivering exceptional patient care.

Community Information

The San Francisco Bay Area is known for its natural beauty, liberal politics, entrepreneurship, and diversity. The area has high incomes; it includes the five highest California counties by per capita income and two of the top 25 wealthiest counties in the United States.

The nine-county Bay Area contains many cities, towns, airports, and associated regional, state, and national parks, connected by a network of roads, highways, railroads, bridges, tunnels and commuter rail.

The combined urban area of San Jose and San Francisco is the largest in Northern California, the second largest in California (after Los Angeles), and the 55th largest urban area in the world.

Equal Opportunity Statement

It is the policy of Sutter Health and its partners to provide equal employment for all qualified individuals; to prohibit discrimination in employment because of basis of race, color, creed, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, registered domestic partner status, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, ancestry, national origin (including possession of a driver's license issued to individuals who did not present proof of authorized presence in the U.S.), age, medical condition, physical or mental disability, military or protected veteran status, political affiliation, pregnancy or perceived pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical condition, genetic information or any other characteristic made unlawful by local, state or federal law, ordinance or regulation.

We promote the full realization of equal employment opportunities through a positive continuing program within each medical group, company, hospital, department, and service area. Equal employment opportunities apply to every aspect of Sutter's employment policies and practices.

Key Responsibilities

Duties include managing both outpatient and hospital-based responsibilities within a full-spectrum practice. The physician will also have the opportunity for rapid practice growth.

Qualifications

Experience
2+ years of experience

Certifications

Board Certification

Key Skills

Outpatient CareHospital-based CareSurgical Procedures

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Physician, Cardiothoracic Surgery (San Francisco, CA) at Sutter Health - Bay Area a 6.4 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as good. This places the position in the Above average in Surgery — ranked against 1,126 active Surgery listings on WeekdayDoc. Contributing factors include no on-call duties, flexible scheduling.

Surgery — Physician Career Context

Of the 50 active Surgery listings this role was benchmarked against, 96% have no call, 70% require no weekends.

Surgery pay on WeekdayDoc is down 11.1% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).

For production-based offers, this specialty runs a typical 9,000 wRVUs per year (derived from CMS CPT-frequency data), and WeekdayDoc listings compensate a median of about $48 per wRVU — implying roughly $432k in production-based pay. For reference, the 2026 CMS Medicare conversion factor is $33.40 per RVU.

Top Surgeon Jobs

42 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution42 jobs · 12 employers

16
$300k
18
$350k-590k
8
$590k+

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks40 jobs · 12 employers

401k / retirement match
70% this job
Sign-on bonus
30%
Relocation assistance
20% this job
CME allowance
5%
Loan repayment
3%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Mohs Surgeon - Kirkland, WA

North Pacific Dermatology · Kirkland, Washington

$750k-$750k
#2

Mohs Surgeon - Kirkland, WA

Skin Surgery Center · Kirkland, Washington

$750k-$750k
#3

Mohs Surgeon - Kirkland, WA

$750k-$750k
#4

Mohs Surgeon - Atlanta, GA

$650k-$650k
+ 40 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 4.8this job 6.4
Better work-life than 70% of Surgery listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 1,126 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • No call

Living in San Francisco

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$1.74M
Typical market rent
$4,682/mo
Residents’ average commute
30 min
State income tax
Up to 13.3%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.

Sutter Health - Bay Area logo

About Sutter Health - Bay Area

Hospitals and Health Care
Palo Alto, CA
501-1,000 employees

Benefits & Perks

Guaranteed salary for two years
Production bonus
Shareholder eligible after two years
Schedule flexibility
Sabbaticals
Relocation allowance
401K
Cash-balance retirement plan