Hi! I'm a third year med student, and am planning to apply to plastic surgery next year. How many programs do most students apply to? Thanks for your help.

None. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is a fellowship following a five-year residency in General Surgery. There are no PGY1 positions available for Plastics to medical students.


Tim of New York City.

Tim,

Is it a fellowship in all programs? Here in Canada it is it's own 5 year residency - there are only ~8 programs across the country, and it is the most competative program to get into (derm was a close second last year). I was hoping to apply to the American match in addition to the Canadian match to increase my chances.

The AOA has several hospitals that offer fast track positions listed under the field of Otolaryngology/Facial Plastic Surgery. This is the only direct way to enter an AOA surgical residency that includes the internship as a part of its residency program. You can get more information at http://opportunities.aoa-net.org/internships/internship.htm I hope this helps.

doatc, I don't think the poster would qualify for an AOA position. I believe, from his/her post, that he/she's an allopathic med student.

tussy, They're all fellowships in the US, and I'm not aware of any ACGME Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery programs that have any PGY1 spots. You can check out the AMA's FREIDA website at www.ama-assn.org/freida (http://www.ama-assn.org/freida) for more information on Plastics.


Tim of New York City.

Hi Tussy,

Yours is an extremely old post, but I figured that some other users could benefit from it.

The "new" wave in Plastics is the Integrated program, which matches students right out of medical school at the PGY1 level. There are currently approximately 25 of these, but the vast majority of programs are still fellowship positions (ie, after at least 3 years of Gen Surg or Ortho Surg residency). There are a couple which are 5 years, but the majority of the Integrated are 6 years in length (with additional time if you desire further fellowship training, ie, Burn, Hand, etc.)

Most of the other students I've talked to on the interview trail this year applied to ALL (or a large majority) of the Integrated programs as well as Gen Surg programs (in the likely event that you go unmatched in Plastics). Integrated Plastics is one of the most difficult residencies to get into these days so most advisors will recommend that you also apply to Gen Surg programs, or have some other "Plan B".

Hope this helps others out there.

Hi Kimberly,

Thanks for your answer to my year-old question. In the interim however, I've discovered that I really enjoy general surgery moreso than plastics, so I've decided to only apply to gen surg programs, and, only to the Canadian match. Interviews start next week.

Good luck on match day to everyone!