Department Name

A residency in Plastic and Reconstructive surgery is offered to qualified applicants. One resident is accepted each year for a three-year training program. Residents are selected through the national matching program and a minimum of three prerequisite years of training in basic surgery is required for applicants to be considered. Applications from candidates in related specialties are encouraged, provided they meet the requirements of the American Board of Plastic Surgery. A letter from the Board granting approval of prerequisite training is required of all applicants. A limited number of applicants can be interviewed, and they are selected on the basis of their qualifications. The three years are spent on rotations between the Shands Hospital and the Gainesville Veterans Hospital located across the street from each other. When needed, outside rotations are arranged for specific purposes. In the past, this has included rotations away from Gainesville.

In addition to the two hospitals, the program uses two ambulatory surgery units and operates at a clinical office, all of which are a short distance to the hospitals. All aspects of the clinical practice are open to resident participation. Although most of the patients are private patients of the faculty, resident participation is determined by the ability and level of development of the resident. There is a resident cosmetic surgery program under which residents are encouraged to conduct a relatively independent practice for patients who request that type of service and are charged significantly reduced fees. Most of these cases will be assigned a third year resident.

The program includes all aspects of Plastic Surgery including congenital anomalies, head and neck cancer, craniofacial trauma, breast, reconstruction of chest, abdominal and lower extremity defects, hand surgery, burns, cosmetic surgery and laser surgery.

The Plastic surgery service shares responsibility for hand emergencies with the Department of Orthopedics and shares facial trauma cases with Oral Surgery and Otolaryngology. The burn unit is managed by the General Surgery service, but plastic surgery residents see burn unit admissions when on call and participate in a limited, but sufficient number of burn operations. By the end of three years, all residents are expected to accrue more than the national average number of cases in all categories.

Plastic Surgery residents are expected to participate in the education of third and fourth year medical students and first year basic surgery residents. This includes providing clinical supervision and participating in teaching conferences.

Two conferences are conducted each week on the core curriculum in plastic surgery and a preoperative conference is held each week. In addition, the Department of Surgery conducts grand rounds each week and these are attended by the Plastic Surgery residents, faculty and students.

Plastic Surgery residents are required to conduct at least one research project each year and submit an abstract to the Southeastern Society of Plastic Surgery each January. Publication of research papers is strongly encouraged. Most of the research projects have been clinical, but laboratory facilities are available for bench research. During the first two months of each academic year, anatomy sessions are conducted each Saturday and microsurgery sessions are held each Tuesday in the Plastic Surgery laboratory. Although all residents entering the program are expected to complete the entire three years, appointments are renewed on a yearly basis and are contingent on appropriate progress in clinical, technical, and academic development.

Interested applicants should apply through the:
Plastic Surgery Central Application Program
Maricopa County Medical Society
326 East Coronado Road
Phoenix, AZ 85004
(602) 256 0705