Plastic Surgery Residency

About the program

Residents spend two months at the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute learning from some of the most renowned cosmetic surgeons in a private practice setting. In addition, chief residents have the opportunity to run their own cosmetic clinic. During their first 2 years of training, residents receive 10 months of plastic surgery training. Residents also rotate with Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Dermatology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Surgical Oncology, Trauma, Pediatric Surgery, Surgical Intensive Care, Transplant, and Burn Reconstruction. The remaining 4 years of training are dedicated plastic surgery training.

The plastic surgery residency at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center is participating as one of three plastic surgery residencies in an Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approved educational innovation along with Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The residency is competency-based as opposed to a time-based training program. Under the competency-based model, plastic surgery residency is a minimum of five instead of six years, and graduation is based on attaining the ability to practice plastic surgery independently and without supervision. The American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) has approved this educational innovation; therefore, graduates of the residency are eligible for fellowships and to enter the board certification process.

Additional highlights

• A dedicated microsurgery lab with protected 1:1 training time
• Dedicated research months in PGY 1-3 years
• Funding to present at one regional and one national meeting yearly
• Cadaver labs
• Protected resident and staff-led didactics 4 days weekly
• A low cost of living with an accessible real estate market
• Close proximity to some of the nation’s largest cities including Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston
• All home facilities are within 5 minutes of each other

Rotations

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 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.

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.  

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 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.

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. 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.