Plastic Surgery Residency

The residency training program in plastic surgery is designed to give residents diverse experience in plastic surgery and its subspeciality areas. Two positions per year are filled in an integrated program approved by the Residency Review Committee which involves matching into the program during the senior year of medical school. Rotations for the three years in general surgery are: 

• first year -- general surgery, orthopaedics, plastics, ocular plastics, transplant, vascular, and trauma
• second year -- general surgery, plastics, oral surgery, head & neck, hand/ortho, burn unit and research
• third year -- plastics, head & neck, general surgery, dermatology
• Fourth-year residents transition into full-time training in plastic surgery, and operative responsibility is graduated as residents gain experience throughout the final three years.

Residents are exposed to all areas of Plastic Surgery including breast surgery, facial fractures, facial aesthetic surgery, pediatric plastic surgery, hand surgery, wound management, and reconstructive surgery following traumatic injury and cancer resection. Residents spend one to two weeks in the microsurgical laboratory, honing techniques to participate in clinical microsurgical procedures. Three months are spent in Memorial Medical Center's 10-bed Regional Burn Center, learning burn care, rehabilitation and burn reconstruction. Residents also have three months to to pursue research interests. 5th and 6th year residents continue to gain experience as the primary surgeons and become more familiar with indications for surgery and management of complications. The 6th year resident also serves as the administrative chief resident, supervising junior residents and medical students, as well as organizing weekly conferences. There are four full-time plastic surgery faculty and three clinical part-time faculty. Residents are strongly encouraged to perform clinical and basic research as part of their educational experience. The division sends each resident to one meeting per year, plus meetings where the research of the resident is presented.

Plastic Surgery Resident education at SIU School of Medicine strives to achieve the following:

• Solid foundation in the fundamentals of plastic surgery
• Broad exposure to all aspects of plastic surgery
• Technical competence and confidence as a surgeon
• Successful completion of a research project with publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
  

Satisfactory completion of this residency qualifies residents to take the American Board of Plastic Surgery written examination.

Contact Information:

Please feel free to contact our offices at the School of Medicine with any questions you may have concerning the Plastic Surgery Residency Program:
Jenny Kesselring
Institute for Plastic Surgery
Telephone: 217-545-6112
FAX Number: 217-545-2588
E-mail: jkesselring@siumed.edu