Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Residency

Since the establishment of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery more than 40 years ago, the Division has experienced continued growth and continues to be a leader in education and training world-class surgeons. Currently, there are seven plastic surgeons, one oral surgeon, and one PhD on the senior staff.

The Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery interfaces with a number of other services in the Duke University Medical Center and provides residents with a wealth of clinical experience. Residents participate on the Craniomaxillofacial Team in the evaluation and treatment of patients who have sustained facial trauma. Residents also participate with members of the Orthopaedic service, providing soft tissue management for upper and lower extremity problems that are acute or chronic as well as a shared didactic program for Hand Surgery. Further hand training for plastic surgery residents includes a four month experience. Collaborations extend to all areas of clinical service, including neurosurgery, general surgery, ENT, urology, GYN, and pediatric surgery.

Independent Training Program

Duke University Medical Center no longer participates in the Integrated Plastic Surgery match. Although three years of training is a minimum for acceptance into the independent plastic surgery program; before requesting an application, please note that our program is a full three-year residency requiring board eligibility in, either; General Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Oral Surgery or Otolaryngology. Foreign Medical Graduates must obtain ECFMG certification to be considered. Each applicant must have at least a PGY level 5 for consideration into the program. Also, steps I, II, and III of the USMLE must be taken and passed in order to be considered for an interview.

We match through the San Francisco Match. We are currently sending out information for the match year 2010, with training beginning 7/1/2011. We use a centralized application verification service, which is within the San Francisco Match Program. This service allows you to complete one application and furnish one set of documents for most of the programs in which you are interested. An application can be requested by calling 415-447-0351 or writing SF Match, Association Management Services, 655 Beach Street, San Francisco, CA 94109, ATTN: Carl Ware.

When you submit the completed application, be certain to list Duke University Medical Center as one of the programs to which you would like your verified application sent providing you meet the requirements listed above. It is important to respond as quickly as possible as it takes sixty (60) days to process your application. The earlier you submit your application, the more quickly it will be sent to the training programs for review. Applicants who are offered an interview will be contacted by email using the information included in your application. Applications received by the San Francisco Match after December 31, 2009, will not be eligible for processing through the centralized system for the match year 2010.

2010 Interveiw Dates: Two Saturdays in early 2010.

A vigorous microsurgery service is an integral part of the Division. Since 1974, approximately two thousand vascularized composite tissue transplantations have been performed with an overall success rate of more than 97 percent. Typically, two or three major microvascular cases are performed each week either at Duke University Medical Center or at the adjacent Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center. An active microsurgery laboratory is available to medical students and surgical residents for animal training in microsurgical technique.

During the first year of the program, in order to provide an initial general and broad base exposure to plastic surgery, incoming residents will have a four-month rotation at our associated Veterans Administration Medical Center and a four-month rotation at Durham Regional Hospital. The residents are assigned to senior staff, who provide residents with increasing responsibilities during the training period. During the second year, after some experience in plastic surgery, residents spend four-months in the hand surgery rotation in Louisville, Kentucky. Other rotations include a one month rotation in reconstructive burn surgery at the UNC Burn Center, a laboratory based research experience, and exposure to private practice plastic surgery with Duke affiliated surgeons at the Durham Regional Hospital. The Chief Resident year is the finishing year of training, with four months of independent experience at the VA hospital, four months running the reconstructive service at Duke Hospital, and four months as the Chief on the aesthetic service. Chiefs also arrange a two week experience visiting renowned plastic surgeons anywhere in the continental United States or Canada.

Aims of Duke Plastic Surgery Residency Training

To have residents acquire and be proficient in the relevant plastic surgery skills
To give a broad base of experience by providing access to a wide spectrum of plastic surgery patients
To have residents demonstrate increasing responsibility, skill and knowledge as they progress through the residency
To have residents work well with the faculty and benefit from interactions
To emphasize scholarship
To emphasize research and/or scientific interests or productions
To maintain an appropriate balance between clinical interests and academic pursuits
To be the best training program for plastic surgery in the country

Special Features

Duke University Hospital is a Level One Trauma Center. Treatment of acutely injured patients is provided by the Trauma Service and is a cooperative effort by both Plastic Surgery and General Surgery.

The Division sponsors the Facial Rehabilitation Center which evaluates and treats patients with a variety of congenital and acquired facial defects using a multidisciplinary team approach. Several hundred patients with cleft lip and/or palate are followed by the team on a routine basis and more than 300 patients are seen each year. Many members of the cleft lip-palate team are nationally recognized for their clinical and research efforts. The Center includes a Facial Reanimation program. The Division also works closely with the Division of Speech Pathology and Audiology in the Department of Surgery.

The Division has a significant commitment to reconstructive breast surgery. The full spectrum of reconstruction is practiced, from implant reconstruction to perforater flap procedures. The staff is nationally renowned for teaching and innovating in this area.

The Duke Center for Aesthetic Services is a free-standing facility dedicated to cosmetic plastic surgery. Chief residents may schedule their own patients for procedures, under the guidance of Duke faculty. The Center also houses a Mohs' surgeon, which further enhances the spectrum of facial reconstructive cases for training.

Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery is part of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, limiting direct competition for congenital and acquired deformities of the jaw. Clinical research and expertise are directed at temporomandibular joint dysfunction, utilizing a team approach.

Duke is fortunate to have established the Human Tissue Laboratory, a state-of-the-art facility, which makes available human cadaver dissection for residents, fellows and medical students. This is a valued source of education and research opportunity. This is also the site of the annual Duke Flap Course, hosting an international faculty and geared for resident education. All residents in the program participate.

The division seeks individuals who are self motivated, with an established record of clinical excellence and academic productivity. It is hoped that those individuals who matriculate at Duke will become tomorrow's leaders of plastic surgery and represent us well wherever they practice.

Program Contact

Bridgit Burch, Program Coordinator
DUMC 3945
Duke University Medical Center
Phone (919) 681-6588