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Plastic Surgery Residency

Our program provides a unique mixture of private and academic health care exposure.

Scott & White has offered a residency in plastic surgery since 1991, producing the first graduate of the program in 1993. The program which began as an independent model was transformed to accept residents into an integrated model of training in 2010. Currently, applicants are interviewed in their 4th year of medical school. After successfully matching into the program, residents receive 6 years of training and education.

During their first 2 years of training, residents receive exposure to related medical subspecialties including Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Dermatology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Surgical Oncology, ETS, General Surgery at the VA, Pediatric Surgery, SICU, Transplant, and Burn Reconstruction.

In the latter 4 years, residents are exposed to a busy and diverse plastic surgical practice that encompasses seven practicing plastic surgeons, a cosmetic surgery center, a free-standing Children’s Hospital, and one of the nation’s largest Veteran Affairs hospitals. This also includes two months of cosmetic surgery training at the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute.

Medical training at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center provides a unique mixture of private and academic care for patients and healthcare providers. Although over 95% of the resident’s training is performed in Temple, TX; twelve hospitals and 60 clinics comprise the Scott & White Healthcare System, the largest multispecialty practice in Texas.

The large referral system provides residents an opportunity to treat a full range of plastic surgery problems including rare maladies. Residents are expected to gain proficiency in reconstructive surgery, aesthetic surgery, microsurgery, burn surgery, hand surgery, and craniofacial surgery.

In the final year of training, residents are provided a clinic at our Cosmetic Surgery Center where they will care for and treat their own patients with appropriate staff supervision.

Curriculum

During the first two years of residency, residents’ time is divided between plastic surgery and supporting services, which include anesthesia, dermatology, emergency medicine, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery and otolaryngology.

Residents spend their final four years exclusively working in the plastic surgery department. Rotations are selected that provide training in areas that can be utilized in a plastic surgery practice and provide insight into overlapping medical disciplines.

Craniofacial Surgery

This rotation provides residents with an opportunity to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients with a full range of craniofacial abnormalities including aesthetic, congenital, traumatic facial fractures and iatrogenic deformities. A large part of the practice includes working with pediatric patients.

Cosmetic Surgery

Each rotation includes a component of cosmetic plastic surgery. Our physicians treat a full range of patients through our dedicated outpatient clinic. The PGY-6 resident has an opportunity to evaluate potential patients, diagnose problems and provide treatment with staff supervision. In addition, residents gain exposure to non-operative modalities including laser treatment and injectable fillers.

Hand Surgery

Residents rotate with board-certified plastic surgeons with special certification in hand surgery. Maladies of bone, muscle, tendon and nerve including congenital, traumatic and iatrogenic deformities as related to the upper extremity are diagnosed and treated with resources available in the emergency department, operating room, outpatient clinic and our hand center – a collaborative clinic with our orthopedic colleagues.

Microsurgery

In preparation for microsurgery, residents will work with a murine model to achieve competency with vascular anastomoses to prepare for the operating room. A variety of defects, often of traumatic or iatrogenic nature, will be presented to the surgical team, allowing the opportunity to formulate a solution using advanced technologies and techniques. Among the frequently treated challenges are defects produced by excision of head and neck cancer and breast cancer.

Central Texas VA Health Care System

Practice at the hospital includes a full range of plastic surgical problems and techniques including abdominoplasty, rhinoplasty, breast reconstruction and skin cancer excision.

AY 2021-2022 Block Rotation Schedule

In addition to clinical training, residents attend and participate in conferences that enhance their medical knowledge. These include areas of basic sciences as applied to surgery, critical care, trauma, diagnosis, pathology, and treatment of surgical diseases. During the first two years of residency, many of these conferences are held in conjunction with the off-service rotations and general surgery department.

Beginning in the second year of residency, residents attend weekly Selected Readings, The Basics, and Division of Plastic Surgery educational conferences.  These conferences include diagnosis, pathology, complications, and administrative concerns specific to plastic surgery.  They also attend the Department of Surgery Grand Rounds once a month. 

Residents receive four hours of protected research time biweekly. They also attend the Department of Surgery Grand Rounds once a month.  

Plastic Surgery Educational Weekly Conference Schedule

Monday, 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. – Division Educational Conference

Tuesday, 6:50 - 7:50 a.m. – The Basics

Wednesday, 6:50 - 7:50 a.m. – Directed Readings

Thursday 6:30 - 8:00 a.m. – Division Educational Conference

Call is taken by Plastic Surgery residents covering the VA Hospital, Scott & White Children’s Hospital, and Scott & White Hospital. All call is taken from home. Call is evenly divided between the plastic surgery residents in their last 3 years of training. We are in full compliance with the ACGME duty hour guidelines.

Specialty call for Hand Surgery is divided with Orthopedic Surgery. The chief residents are responsible for assigning residents to the call schedule.

Residents are required to conduct research during the residency, completing a minimum of two projects published in a peer reviewed journal. Regional, national and international presentations are encouraged with financial support available for travel and publication expenses. The scholarly environment is further enhanced as the Division of Plastic Surgery Education funds residents to attend national professional meetings during their residency and encourages the residents’ involvement in professional organizations (TSPS, ASPS, etc.)

During each of the first three years of training, residents are assigned to a one-month research rotation. In the final years of residency, a biweekly protected afternoon is available to each resident who is actively participating in research.

Each resident also completes a quality assurance (QA) initiative during training. These projects are designed to improve the quality of care provided to our patients. In past years, they have modified the protocols used at our institution for infection control and preoperative pregnancy testing.

The plastic surgery residents are supported with the resources of Baylor Scott & White Health and the Texas A&M University HSC to assist with research. Assistance is available for statistics, Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Institutional Review Committee (IRC) submissions and clinical photography.

  • A mission of healing

    Our residents have opportunities to use their skills to help patients in third-world countries receive much needed surgical care for cleft lip and palate as well as burn and scar repair.

  • Care that extends beyond the hospital walls

    Here, our residents are more than just co-workers. Our program cultivates a family atmosphere inside and outside of the program. That's why we host routine resident socials and family events.

  • Hands-on experience

    With access to simulation labs, our residents are able to practice and gain confidence in new techniques and microsurgery skills.

How to Apply

Applications are accepted through the Plastic Surgery Common Application (PSCA) website.

The American Council of Academic Plastic Surgeons (ACAPS) is continuing to sponsor the specialty-wide pilot of the Plastic Surgery Common Application (PSCA) for integrated residency programs. The PSCA is a plastic surgery-specific application crafted to both improve the residency application process and decrease financial barriers to students by remaining completely FREE.

Our program participates in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and adheres to its policies and guidelines.

  • Deadline for applications is Friday, September 16, 2022 at 11:59 PM PST
  • Virtual Program Meet and Greet
    • September 28, 2022, at 7:00pm (CST) Register
  • Interview dates:
    • December 10, 2022
    • January 7, 2023

For further assistance contact the program administrator:

Stacy Brister
Texas A&M College of Medicine – Baylor Scott & White Medical Center
Plastic Surgery Residency Program
Scott & White
2401 S. 31st St.
Temple, TX 76508
Email: Stacy.Brister@BSWHealth.org
Phone: 254.724.0630 or 800.299.4463
Fax: 254.724.4650

Application Requirements

Eligible candidates must also submit:

  • CV
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • USMLE Step 1 scores (minimum score of 210)
Learn more about Baylor Scott & White's housestaff appointment eligibility, including guidelines for international medical graduates.

Contact Us

Stacy Brister
Phone: 254.724.0630
Fax: 254.724.4650
Stacy.Brister@BSWHealth.org

Plastic Surgery Residency
Baylor Scott & White Health
2401 S. 31st St.
MS-01-E443
Temple, TX 76508

Working at Baylor Scott & White Health

Compensation and Benefits

In addition to competitive stipends, we offer our residents a full menu of employee benefits. We help offset the cost of many of these benefits; others are options you can choose to pay for yourself.

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Life in Temple

Temple uniquely offers a combination of access to big-city conveniences while maintaining a small-town atmosphere. Temple has also been ranked among the Top 20 Fastest Growing Cities in Texas and one of America's most affordable places of 2015.

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Why Baylor Scott & White

As the largest not-for-profit health care system in Texas and one of the largest in the United States, Baylor Scott & White Health includes 48 hospitals, more than 900 patient care sites, more than 6,000 active physicians and more than 40,000 employees.

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