How important is research specifically in plastics?

[blrnystn]

I'm starting med school this year and my med school has no plastics residency and only a small department. Assuming that my interest in plastic surgery continues, will it make my residency application weaker if I have research experience in surgery, but not plastics?

In general, how important is research in the field compared to board scores and grades? Thanks for your input.

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[Moravian]

I'm starting med school this year and my med school has no plastics residency and only a small department. Assuming that my interest in plastic surgery continues, will it make my residency application weaker if I have research experience in surgery, but not plastics?

In general, how important is research in the field compared to board scores and grades? Thanks for your input.

I have previously posted some of this in the mentor section. Briefly, I can’t stress enough the importance of your Step I and Step II scores. Because of the number of applicants, the more desirable programs use these as a way to cull the applicant pool.

Research is more one of those hoops you need to jump through. It shows that you’re motivated and willing to do the extra work to get a spot. There are other benefits as well, like learning to critically evaluate what you read in the journals, but the immediate benefit is getting an interview because everyone is doing it. We did interview one or two people who did not have research experience, but they had great scores and great letters of recommendation. When we asked them about it, they explained that there was limited opportunity for research where they come from, or that they spent their time doing other extra activities.

If you think you need to take a year to do research you improve your chances, I don’t think it will be wasted because you will learn things. But I don't believe it's necessary.

If you have the chance, research in a plastics lab is a bonus (or with plastic surgeons), especially because you’ll get a good letter of recommendation from plastic surgery people (assuming you did a good job and were well liked). If you do have research experience, be prepared to discuss it at your interview. I have had, on more than one occasion, someone show up with a copy of their published research, but couldn’t discuss the methodology, conclusions, or anything else in the paper. For me, this is a sure fire way to get bumped right off the match list. If you don’t have publications, don’t worry. Just be prepared to discuss what you did.

If it helps, I can tell you that I managed to get a plastics spot after a general surgery residency at a community program that had very little in the way of research opportunities. I did some clinical type (i.e. chart review) stuff and managed a publication that had about zero impact. But it showed I was motivated and could make the jump through the prescribed circular requirement.

In short, work hard, kill the USMLE, learn everything you can, make friends with the plastic guys, consider an away rotation when it's time, and have a back up plan.

Best

--M

 

[maverick_pkg]

If it helps, I can tell you that I managed to get a plastics spot after a general surgery residency at a community program that had very little in the way of research opportunities. I did some clinical type (i.e. chart review) stuff and managed a publication that had about zero impact. But it showed I was motivated and could make the jump through the prescribed circular requirement.

In short, work hard, kill the USMLE, learn everything you can, make friends with the plastic guys, consider an away rotation when it's time, and have a back up plan.

Best

--M

hey am a GS resident rotating on plastics right now and finding it interesting. Thinking of pursuing it as a fellowship...but know its competitive, and requires research. Now I have no research experience and we dont have research year or basic science lab at my hospital. What all would you advise me to do during residency to be a strong candidate for plastic surg fellowship?

 

[Moravian]

hey am a GS resident rotating on plastics right now and finding it interesting. Thinking of pursuing it as a fellowship...but know its competitive, and requires research. Now I have no research experience and we dont have research year or basic science lab at my hospital. What all would you advise me to do during residency to be a strong candidate for plastic surg fellowship?

I'm sure some of the other folks who post here will have some suggestions as well, but for me, my previous post sort of says it all.

When you apply for a plastics fellowship, your Step scores are still looked at. Having a mediocre (by plastic standards) score is by no means a deal breaker, but you need to understand that it may work against you. The way to beat that, and maximize your application, is to do well on the surgery inservice exams. My community GS program has now graduated three residents who have gotten plastic fellowships. We all did better than 80% on the ABSITE with scores above 90% on most years. One guy who did well one year and coasted on some others ended up doing a breast fellowship as a bridge to plastics.

We also fulfilled the research thing by publishing some retrospective clinical stuff. My subject was in pancreatic cancer. The other guys managed to get some plastic stuff done by working with the local plastic attendings. Granted it wasn't published in PRS (although these days a lot of crap certainly seems to make it in there), but it showed we were motivated and did the best we could given the circumstances. It's also very important to be able to intelligently discuss the subject on interviews.

I would strongly suggest some type of volunteering, but I would do something that you were passionate about instead of just finding a resume filler. I managed to get on a mission trip and did some community teaching (i.e., spoke at a breat cancer support group about new treatments, gave an end of life talk for a bunch of clergy, etc.)

You're letters of recommendation from both your general surgery faculty and plastics faculty, even if they aren't the guys who wrote the textbooks, are going to be important as well. I tried to be the best surgery resident in my program (this doesn't mean being the best ass kisser) and provide the best care to my patients. When it came time for letters, my faculty returned the favor.

Even if you manage to do all this, there is still no guarantee. As I said, one of our guys did a breast fellowship at a program where he was taken into their plastics program the following year. I know people who did hand, micro or burn fellowships and then got a spot. The road is not easy, but it's doable.

I'd also like to add a few unsolicited comments about what happens after you get your fellowship spot. I thought I worked my butt off in GS residency, but I worked harder and read more during my two plastic years than I ever did in any two comparative years of GS. The cases/decsion making are much more complex and varied than in general surgery (no offense to the general surgeons out there). Not to mention that you are basically going from being chief of your service to almost an intern again. It's not an easy transition.

Best of luck to you,

--Moravian

 

[maverick_pkg]

thanks a lot for the help

 

[BodySculptor]

I spent 2 years doing wound biology in the lab, and I wish I could have wrapped it in one. We worked on the first animal models and early clinical trials for AlloDerm, as LifeCell is here and Houston and their chief scientific officers and co-founder were former faculty at UT-H.

It was great, I learned about how the industry works, and met a lot of good people along the way. I learned to look at research data, and how to sort out the BS. I moonlit and paid off some bills.

I see it as a nice feather in your cap if you can get into a productive lab. If you have dreams of being a "company man" or see being a consultant to the industry as a big plus, then research is a necessity.

When we interviewed for our fellowship, we were not that impressed by research because my program (a 2 year fellowship) really wanted a more "utilitarian" candidate who worked hard and got along.

 

[TheThroat]

Had a good buddy who matched into plastics fellowship after an oto residency. He had a fair amount of research experience. Plastics, like any of the other surgical subspecialities, is very competitive and candidates need to have good scores, good grades, good LOR's, etc. Having some good research always can help.

 

[driedcaribou]

It was great, I learned about how the industry works, and met a lot of good people along the way. I learned to look at research data, and how to sort out the BS. I moonlit and paid off some bills.

Hi there. I am assuming you were doing a gen surg residency at the time?

What kind of jobs do you pick up when you are moonlighting?

Clinic work?

Is it hard to get?
How many years out do you have to be?