The integrated residency in plastic surgery at Northwestern McGaw is fully approved by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The program incorporates one year of research in the middle of a three-plus-three clinical model for a total of seven years.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Children's Memorial Hospital, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, and Shriners Hospital for Children provide clinical experience in the management of patients in all major areas of plastic surgical practice.
Aesthetic Surgery: Intensive exposure to aesthetic surgery of the face and trunk, working with surgeons at Northwestern Memorial and Evanston. Residents also gain excellent experience with their own patients through the well-established resident clinic, providing one or more cases weekly during the entire chief year.
Congenital Anomalies: Cleft lip and palate, microtia, and craniofacial and hand deformities, using orthognathic surgery and the full range of pediatric surgery at Children's Memorial, one of the leading pediatric hospitals in the country. In addition, Shriners provides chief residents with extensive experience in cleft lip and palate, orthognathic, and burn reconstruction surgery.
Reconstructive Surgery: Broad experience provided throughout the residency in local flaps, myocutaneous flaps, and the full range of microsurgery in addressing breast reconstruction, soft tissue coverage problems in all parts of the body, pressure sores, and the correction of late deformities and scars. At Shriners Hospital, chief residents obtain extensive experience in correcting postburn and congenital deformities including orthognathic, craniofacial, and microvascular surgery. A large clinic is devoted to cleft lip and palate surgery.
Tumors: Particularly benign and malignant tumors of the skin and head and neck. Division faculty members have extensive experience in reconstructive surgery for cutaneous malignancies and in head and neck surgery, with special interest in microvascular reconstruction of postablative head and neck defects. They perform all microsurgical reconstructions of head and neck cancer defects.
Trauma: Especially injuries to the facial bones, soft tissues, hands, and lower extremities, and correction of late deformities, including burns. Northwestern Memorial has achieved national prominence in reconstructive surgery for maxillofacial trauma. A three-person hand and microsurgery group, with plastic and orthopaedic surgeons, is one of the oldest and best established hand groups in the country.
The outpatient departments of Children's Memorial, Shriners, Evanston, and Northwestern Memorial operate active plastic surgery clinics. The program includes two multidisciplinary cleft palate teams—the Craniofacial and Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic at Children's Memorial and the Northwestern University Cleft Lip and Palate Institute.
The Division of Plastic Surgery at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine has a rich tradition of laboratory and clinical research. Faculty members have presented papers at virtually all the major meetings. With additional funding from NIH and industry sources, the division supports two full-time PhD investigators and research fellows. The interface with tissue engineering is a new area of active research.
In addition to the year of research during the three-plus-three clinical model, residents must participate in a clinical or laboratory-based project each year, which may be in a laboratory outside of plastic surgery. Children's Memorial and Evanston offer additional opportunities in craniofacial research, including microsurgery.
The division supports two full-time PhD investigates and research fellows. The interface with tissue engineering is a new area of active research.
The first three years of the integrated program provide a broad experience in surgery. General surgery is emphasized, with rotations in anesthesiology; the burn unit at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County; and cardiac, neuro-, orthopaedic, and otolaryngology—head and neck surgery. All residents rotate on plastic surgery each year, one month in the first year and three months in the second and third years.
In the final three years, the residency program is divided into six-month blocks, each consisting of two three-month rotations. In the fourth clinical year, junior plastic surgery residents rotate through Evanston and Northwestern Memorial. In the fifth clinical year, rotations are on the hand service at Northwestern Memorial and Children's Memorial. The final year provides chief resident experience at Northwestern Memorial and Shriners. Chief residents have primary responsibility for patient care, functioning at an attending level (with supervision) at Shriners and the resident cosmetic clinic.
Two teaching conferences and plastic surgery grand rounds are held weekly. Each resident attends one national meeting per year and may present papers at two additional meetings.
The National Resident Matching Program processes applications in the fall of the fourth year of medical school. One set of applicant documents can be furnished through the Match. Northwestern does not require additional personal letters of recommendation but does not discourage them.
A personal interview is required before acceptance. The division notifies applicants about interviews after reviewing all applications.
Thomas A. Mustoe, MD
Professor of Surgery
Gregory A. Dumanian, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Bruce S. Bauer, MD
Children's Memorial Hospital
Gregory A. Dumanian, MD
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Geoffrey C. Fenner, MD
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare
Neil A. Fine, MD
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Gerald D. Harris, MD
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Victor L. Lewis, MD
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Pravin K. Patel, MD
Shriners Hospital for Children
Children's Memorial Hospital
For more information, contact the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, 675 North St. Clair Street, Suite 19-250, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2923, 312/695-6022; fax 312/695-5672 or visit the Department of Surgery Web site.
E-mail: gdumania@nmh.org
Plastic Surgery