Plastic Surgery Residency

Rotations

During the first two years of residency, residents’ time is divided between plastic surgery and supporting services, which include Burn Reconstruction (Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio), Dermatology, Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Pediatric Surgery, the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Surgical Oncology, Transplant Surgery, and Trauma Surgery.

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. PGY 5 and PGY 6 residents spend one month each year learning from some of the most renowned cosmetic surgeons in a private practice setting in either Austin at the Walden Cosmetic Surgery Center or in Houston at the Aesthetic Center for Plastic Surgery.

PGY 6 residents have their own cosmetic surgery clinic one afternoon every other week throughout their final year 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 & 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 2023-2024 Block Rotation Schedule

Conferences

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.

From the first 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 schedule

Call is taken by Plastic Surgery residents covering the Temple VA Hospital, BSWH McLane Children’s Hospital, and BSWH Medical Center-Temple. 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.

Research

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 through GME and the Plastic Surgery Division. The scholarly environment is further enhanced by encouraging the residents’ participation 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 improvement (QI) project 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 Baylor College of Medicine to assist with research. Assistance is available for statistics, Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Institutional Review Committee (IRC) submissions, and clinical photography.