Plastic Surgery Residency

The plastic surgery residency at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center is participating as one of three plastic surgery residencies in an Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approved educational innovation along with Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The residency is competency-based as opposed to a time-based training program. Under the competency-based model, plastic surgery residency is a minimum of five instead of six years, and graduation is based on attaining the ability to practice plastic surgery independently and without supervision. The American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) has approved this educational innovation; therefore, graduates of the residency are eligible for fellowships and to enter the board certification process.

PGY 5 and PGY 6 residents spend one month each year learning from some of the most renowned cosmetic surgeons in a private practice setting in either Austin at the Walden Cosmetic Surgery Center or in Houston at Aesthetic Center for Plastic Surgery. In addition, chief residents have the opportunity to run their own cosmetic clinic. During their first 2 years of training, residents receive 11 months of plastic surgery training and will also rotate with Burn Reconstruction (Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio), Dermatology, Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Pediatric Surgery, the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Surgical Oncology, Transplant Surgery, and Trauma Surgery. The remaining 4 years of training are dedicated to plastic surgery training.

Additional highlights

• A dedicated microsurgery lab with protected 1:1 training time
• Dedicated research months in PGY 1-3 years
• Funding to present at one regional or national meeting yearly
• Cadaver labs
• Protected resident and staff-led didactics 4 days weekly
• A low cost of living with an accessible real estate market