Considering Plastic Surgery.

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Melchizedek

Magnificent Mocha Mel - Trilt
5+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2016
Messages
7,244
Reaction score
14,962
Hey,
If you hang out in the lounge or pre-vet you might know me. I'm posting here because I am hoping to get advice or a reality check.

My story: was a nurse for a couple years and then started medical school for that MD back in 2018 in a mid tier program. Got into a really bad MVC and almost lost my RLE. Plastic surgery played a huge role in salvaging my limb* (they did a thigh flap). Started school again fall 2019 and am a current MS1. The recover hasn't been easy, 6 surgeries over the course of 18 months, but I am persevering. I got to know my plastic surgery team really well while in the hospital and they were eager to teach me about the surgeries I was having because I'm med student as well as their patient.

The whole experience has really put the field on the map for me and I am considering it as an option for the future. To learn more, I recently scheduled some shadowing time with the department in the OR and during clinic. I've got a line on a plastic surgery research project, so that I can get to know the research side of the field too (I enjoy research and would want to continue it as a physician.)

So my questions:
1. When did you know that you wanted to do plastic surgery?
2. I am not a huge fan of gross anatomy. I don't hate it, there are moments where I'm truly like "WOW" but I'm never itching for the scalpel or anything. How is this going to translate in a surgical field? (I know I'll really get a better feel for PS or GenSurg in 3rd/4th year.)
3. How many pubs/posters/presentations/etc. does a typical PS applicant have?
4. A few classmates suggested if I want to be serious about PS I should take a research year off from school, I am super hesitant because I've already delayed my career as a physician by a lot plus the time off from the accident. Is this generally the accepted wisdom?
5. I know the residency is very competitive. What things besides step scores and research make a PS applicant stand out?


I'm open to any and all advice people have.




*yes ortho did too, but bone surgery just doesn't appeal to me.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Hey Mel,

I'm a PRS applicant for the current year and would be happy to answer your questions.

First off - here is a great resource for you:

Its a spreadsheet that the current applicants and next years applicants use to talk about programs, communicate with each other, get to know each others stats, etc.

Second, here is another link to a document called "charting outcomes in the match" that is published every year and reports the exact data you are looking for vis a vis number of research projects, publications, step scores, etc. per field.


To answer your specific questions, I came into medical school with a strong interest in plastic surgery and sought out mentors and research opportunities in my first year and continued to pursue these throughout all of medical school. This played out to be a tremendous advantage because who you know is a HUGE factor in matching and where you go, and the quality of your relationship with your mentors will be based on the amount of time they know you and how well they can speak to why you would be a great resident.

Anatomy is terribly important in plastic surgery. The reason we can do what we do (i.e. design flaps, be innovative about reconstruction) is because of an intricate knowledge of anatomy, specifically relating to replacing "like with like" (you need to know how different anatomical structures are similar - i.e. should I use ear cartilage or rib cartilage for structural support in a rhinoplasty etc.) You need to know the vascular supply of soft tissue structures to come up with a reconstructive plan, etc. This is hard to explain but as you learn more about the field you will begin to appreciate why this is so important.

I would say there's a pretty big range regarding how many pubs/presentations people have. Check the charting outcomes doc to see the average. The best applicants have many projects that are published in legit journals (journal of plastic and reconstructive surgery >> the rest) and can speak about them in a meaningful way. Beyond this, plastic surgery is one of the most innovative fields in medicine, and the research/academic side of things is where this innovation happens, so I would encourage you to be involved just because it is amazing, and not primarily to improve your applications (though it does matter). Furthermore, research is your gateway to mentors, which is very important.

I took a year off between my third and fourth year to pursue research. I also did it for personal reasons, so it wasn't purely for research. People say you don't *need* it if your application is great to begin with (great LOR, step scores, research, etc.) and that is probably true, but most people at my school take a year and I wanted to. I would look at your school's students who matched in plastics and see what they did and decide based on how you compare with them at the end of third year. No need to make this decision now.

Stand out applicants know about plastic surgery, can articulate themselves in a compelling fashion in the interview, have great mentors that go to bat for them, and are extremely self-motivated. The truth is we are all great applicants, its hard to identify what makes a person really stand out beyond scores, school rep, etc. I got involved in a very sexy technological area of research that I think helped me, but that was kinda lucky.

Here to answer any questions and good luck.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
Hey,
If you hang out in the lounge or pre-vet you might know me. I'm posting here because I am hoping to get advice or a reality check.

My story: was a nurse for a couple years and then started medical school for that MD back in 2018 in a mid tier program. Got into a really bad MVC and almost lost my RLE. Plastic surgery played a huge role in salvaging my limb* (they did a thigh flap). Started school again fall 2019 and am a current MS1. The recover hasn't been easy, 6 surgeries over the course of 18 months, but I am persevering. I got to know my plastic surgery team really well while in the hospital and they were eager to teach me about the surgeries I was having because I'm med student as well as their patient.

The whole experience has really put the field on the map for me and I am considering it as an option for the future. To learn more, I recently scheduled some shadowing time with the department in the OR and during clinic. I've got a line on a plastic surgery research project, so that I can get to know the research side of the field too (I enjoy research and would want to continue it as a physician.)

So my questions:
1. When did you know that you wanted to do plastic surgery?
2. I am not a huge fan of gross anatomy. I don't hate it, there are moments where I'm truly like "WOW" but I'm never itching for the scalpel or anything. How is this going to translate in a surgical field? (I know I'll really get a better feel for PS or GenSurg in 3rd/4th year.)
3. How many pubs/posters/presentations/etc. does a typical PS applicant have?
4. A few classmates suggested if I want to be serious about PS I should take a research year off from school, I am super hesitant because I've already delayed my career as a physician by a lot plus the time off from the accident. Is this generally the accepted wisdom?
5. I know the residency is very competitive. What things besides step scores and research make a PS applicant stand out?


I'm open to any and all advice people have.




*yes ortho did too, but bone surgery just doesn't appeal to me.

Lots of good advice in the post above mine. I’m a few years out of training and a lot has changed with the application process and prerequisites. Remember that there are two pathways to becoming a plastic surgeon - the integrated pathway, which is a 6-year plastics residency right out of med school, and the independent pathway, which is a 3 year “fellowship” (technically a residency) after a general surgery or ENT residency. Obviously the integrated track is much more sought after and competitive (although I think both have their advantages and disadvantages)

I didn’t know I wanted to be a plastic surgeon for the majority of med school...in fact I didn’t know WHAT I wanted to do for most of med school. I HATED anatomy - I thought gross lab was disgusting, and I had a very hard time with memorizing the material. Ironically enough given what I do now, the hardest blocks for me were head and neck anatomy and upper extremity anatomy.

I figured that ruled out surgery. But then I REALLY enjoyed my surgery rotation, loved the OR, loved the personalities and the pace of the day. I couldn’t really see myself being a general surgeon though, but I kind of started planning to apply for a surgery residency. And then, kind of on a whim, I did a plastics sub-I at the start of my 4th year and fell in love.

I obviously didn’t have the application to get an integrated spot so I ended up doing the fellowship route after a general surgery residency (and then a craniofacial fellowship after that). I’m now in an academic-affiliated multi specialty practice and I could not be happier. I love the creative problem-solving we have to do on a daily basis - I joke with my nurses that I have to invent an operation for half of my cases. I also (again, ironically for someone who hated anatomy) love that we get to operate all over the body - and weirdly anatomy makes a lot more sense when you are thinking about it in the context of a patient or a specific operation. For example, my cases last week included a cleft lip, reconstruction of an ankle wound, a ligament repair of a thumb, and a couple burn cases. I am NEVER bored. There is plenty of opportunities for research even if you don’t have a basic science lab. And you can tailor your practice to whatever interests you.

I know I probably don’t need to talk you into how awesome plastic surgery is, but please know that you can do it even if you decide late, or are terrible at anatomy. I do think these boards can be a good resource particularly if people start posting more. Always happy to answer any other questions you may have!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
Members don't see this ad :)
Thank you both for the wealth of information and your perspectives. This definitely gives me something to chew on as I explore PRS more. Would you both be cool with me bugging you in PM from time to time if I have more questions?
@MediCane2006 @OrbitalOverload
 
Top