Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, known as Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery before, was founded in 1949 by professor Shi Huayu. It is the first department of cardiothoracic surgery in Zhejiang Province. Currently, it has become the clinical and academic leader of cardiac surgery in Zhejiang Province and one of the finest cardiac surgery centers of the whole nation. Master degree and doctoral degree program was began in the department in 2002 and 2005 respectively. In 2007, the department was sanctioned as one of the first standardized training bases for residents of the nation, and was rated as one of the National Key Clinical Specialties (Cardiovascular Surgery) in 2011.

The department has maintained close cooperation with multiple international cardiac centers including Cardiovascular Center of University Hospital Zurich, Cardiovascular Center of Université de Lausanne, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Cardiothoracic Center of Johns Hopkins University, Cardiovascular Center of University of Pennsylvania.

Academic leader of the department, Dr. Ni Yiming, is currently a standing committee member of the Chinese Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, and former chairman of committee of the Zhejiang Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Director of the department, Dr. Ma Liang, was the designated chairman of committee of the Zhejiang Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.