Program Director: Ian T. Jackson, MD
Duration: One month
Maximum number of student per four-week period: One
Candidates: Senior students of approved medical schools
Description:
The Plastic Surgery service of Providence Hospital is an extremely busy one with approximately 1,200 operative cases annually. There are seven staff positions with offices either within the hospital or in its vicinity. The staff is interested in teaching medical students and having them involved in the educational and clinical aspects of the program. The students work with the residents. This involves participating in all educational activities of the Plastic Surgery section. These occur on a daily basis in the form of lectures and conferences. Clinical commitments are: making rounds, being available to scrub as an assistant in the operating room, and generally helping the plastic surgery residents and fellows. Medical students are encouraged to visit the offices of the staff since minor procedures are carried out there, and a vast array of interesting cases are seen. The management of trauma is an integral part of plastic surgery consisting of facial injuries, facial fractures and hand injuries, and students are encouraged to participate in seeing these patients.
The Microsurgical Laboratory is under the direction of the Plastic Surgery group and students are encouraged to avail themselves of the opportunity to learn microsurgery under the direction of the microvascular technician. This can be accomplished during the student’s time at Providence. In addition to this, there are numerous ongoing studies in the Research Laboratory, and students are welcome to participate in these together with any clinical studies that may interest them with a view of producing a paper or a presentation.
Providence Hospital has an excellent library which is well stocked with plastic surgery textbooks. There are also libraries available in the Institute of Craniofacial and Reconstructive Surgery and other offices, and the students are welcome to utilize these facilities.
The value of rotating on the Plastic Surgery service is that it gives firstly an appreciation of the specialty, and secondly during the time in the service students should be well-trained in basic principles of wound care and suturing. Also, they should learn the clinical application of hand and face anatomy. In addition to this, there are a vast number of interesting cases to be seen since the referrals to the Plastic Surgery group are not only local but also national and international. The time spent in this rotation should be interesting, stimulating and educational in this expanding field of surgery.
