Program Synopsis

[Stare Decisis]

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I was hoping people would be willing to give their recent impressions of programs. Not a ranking, but just a brief word about the programs they have had the fortune of being involved with. Here are a couple of things I am interested in:

1. Does the program take research seriously and do the residents seem genuinely interested in doing research?

2. How is the operative experience? (Could anyone address the rumor that NYU residents get little "hand on" experience)

3. What places give a solid mixture of research experience and operative experience

It would also be nice to hear about the lesser known programs that people were or were not impressed with. Options are limited in plastic surgery but it would be nice to know what is out there.

 

[Stare Decisis]

I will start things off with a program I recently rotated through:

Case Program:

Operative Experience is solid with a good variety that includes breast, craniofacial, reconstructive, and aesthetic. Dr. Guyuron is quite a strong chair and the program has a serious sorta vibe. The residents seem to get along quite well and the environment is fairly positive, but these guys work very very hard. The only weakness seems to be hand experience, I don't think they have a dedicated hand surgeon. They also get a lot of trauma experience, but you also get to work with one of the best aesthetic surgeons in the buisness.

Most of the residents expressed that they are interested in PP but are knowledgeable about research. During research the residents are expected to cover a lot of call, making it hard to be soley dedicated to research.

The program does have a 250 step 1 cut-off (this is from the chair) and prefers to have 255+ applicants (this is from the residents).

If anyone has questions about this program I would be happy to try and answer. Overall, it is good place. I would love to have some information on NYU, especially the operative experience.

 

[...to_the_OR!]

Briefly about the program I am a resident at (Grand Rapids - GRMERC/ MSU)...

All the residents are very happy with the whole package here. Attendings are great. Fellow colleagues and residnets from other programs are geat. Benefits and salaries are great. All of the "peri-residency" stuff is great. Tons of PRS or PRS related months throughout your first 3 years here (GS years) - 6 months PRS, 2 months Hand, 2 months burn, 1 month OMFS, 1 month oculoplastics, 1 month ENT, 1 month Derm Surg (mohs).

OR experience: top notch, We have SIGNIFICANT clinical volume because all of our surgeons are private practice. We have around 20 surgeons or so that we scrub with. Our case numbers are beyond solid, especially cosmetic/breast/hand/facial fxr's. Our residents get 90% or so of their numbers in their first year of PRS (4th yr). Teaching and turning in the OR is fantastic - no "observing". A couple years back our 4th yr residents each coded ~800 cases each in 1 yr!

Research: We are not a mega-academic institution. However, all of our residents have multiple IRB projects going on all the time. The program provides immnese support for research with dedicated research staff to assist in design, lit searches, statistics/analysis, and preparing IRB's/posters, etc... We currently have multiple prospective randomized type studies, multiple large case series reviews, and numerous technique case report type projects. Our residents regularly publish and present at national conferences.

Infrastructure: There is a massive expansion going on right now to our clinical campus. A new children's hospital is almost done. An expansion to the basic science research institute is almost done with new PhD programs. Our brand new cancer center just opened. Michigan State medschool is relocating to Grand Rapids with a new medical school/administrative center being built. Spectrum Health has a huge vision of working toward becoming a national referral center.

Downsides: Not a "brand name" like Harvard or Hopkins. We need more microsurgery (although a new microsurgeon will be starting this fall). No protected time for basic bench research. Grand Rapids is not NYC or LA.

 

[igap]

Briefly about the program I am a resident at (Grand Rapids - GRMERC/ MSU)...


OR experience: top notch, We have SIGNIFICANT clinical volume because all of our surgeons are private practice. We have around 20 surgeons or so that we scrub with. Our case numbers are beyond solid, especially cosmetic/breast/hand/facial fxr's. Our residents get 90% or so of their numbers in their first year of PRS (4th yr). Teaching and turning in the OR is fantastic - no "observing". A couple years back our 4th yr residents each coded ~800 cases each in 1 yr!

Don't know if this has been addressed by other posters on this site before, but beware inflated case numbers. 800 cases in one year is very high. Unless you are doing 10 minute carpal tunnel releases all day, I suspect that the 800 "cases" were actually 800 codes. It's not unusual to log 10 codes for a single case if you are an "agressive logger". On a burn rotation you can log a code for each 1% of TBSA grafted. Think about it. Ideally what you would need is a breakdown of OR cases and codes per case, and exactly what the case mix is. Unfortunately this is difficult if not impossible to obtain as an applicant even if you are provided with the op logs of the previous years' residents.

 

[...to_the_OR!]

Don't know if this has been addressed by other posters on this site before, but beware inflated case numbers. 800 cases in one year is very high. Unless you are doing 10 minute carpal tunnel releases all day, I suspect that the 800 "cases" were actually 800 codes. It's not unusual to log 10 codes for a single case if you are an "agressive logger". On a burn rotation you can log a code for each 1% of TBSA grafted. Think about it. Ideally what you would need is a breakdown of OR cases and codes per case, and exactly what the case mix is. Unfortunately this is difficult if not impossible to obtain as an applicant even if you are provided with the op logs of the previous years' residents.

Yes, sorry. Wasn't trying to be deceptive, it was over 800 codes. Thanks for clarifying. Nonetheless over 90% of our required numbers are obtained in the first year. The volume is legit. Even in the GS years... I've coded over 600 cases in my first 2 years and 3 months, about 400 of which are surgeon junior level stuff, all the first assisting was during first year... And we do provide all the op logs from the past 3-4 years to our applicants.