Welcome to the Department of Surgery

University of Colorado Hospital  
The first year resident will have a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practice of plastic surgery in the adult setting.  The resident will be exposed to the spectrum of plastic surgery including wounds and wound healing, general reconstruction, breast surgery, head and neck reconstruction, hand surgery and microsurgery.  Residents will have an introduction to cosmetic surgery patients who are seen at the University.  The resident will have time in both the ambulatory and inpatient setting and will have an introduction to the evaluation of preoperative patients, surgical procedures and postoperative management.

·         Wound repair

·         Flaps and Grafts

·         Anesthesia and Critical care

·         Pharmacology/Therapeutics

·         Hand Anatomy/physiology/embryology

·         Hand trauma

Denver Health 
This rotation will provide the resident with an introduction to management of facial trauma at a busy Level I Trauma Center with a wide cachement of the Rocky Mountain Region.  This is also a county hospital which provides indigent care to Denver County residents.  Residents will learn to evaluate and treat facial trauma patients.  They will also be exposed to lower extremity trauma patients requiring soft tissue coverage, as well as a variety of general reconstructive surgery patients.  Residents will gain experience with digital re-plantation cases in conjunction with the orthopedic surgery service.

·         Head and neck trauma

·         Lower extremity anatomy/physiology/embryology

·         Trauma/reconstruction of lower extremities

Burn Service 
The first year resident will rotate for 1 month on the Burn Service under the auspices of the doctors who mange the surgical and critical care aspects of the University of Colorado Hospital accredited Burn Center.  They will have exposure to acute management of burn patients including debridement and grafting techniques, allografting, wound care and donor site care as well as critical care management of the burn patient.

Children’s Hospital Colorado and VA 
Residents will have an introduction to pediatric plastic surgery and craniofacial surgery including participation in multidisciplinary cleft clinic.  Residents will also spend time with the chief of plastic surgery at the VA and will participate in evaluating pre and post operative patients in the clinic as well as in their surgical management.  This includes a broad spectrum of general reconstructive patients.

·         Pediatric anatomy/physiology/embryology

·         Congenital disorders of the head and neck

Year 2

In our apprentice-based model, the resident will move through the same rotations with additional responsibility in accordance with their increased knowledge and abilities.  In comparison to the Year 1 rotations, they will be expected to have a more in depth understanding of the goals and objectives and be able to apply this knowledge appropriately.  Additionally, the Year 2 resident will have an introduction to ongoing participation in a resident directed cosmetic clinic as well as dedicated cosmetic surgery time as part of their rotations. 

University of Colorado Hospital 
This year, the resident will be familiar with the principles of plastic surgery and how they evaluate patients.  They will play a more active role in patient evaluation and education and will be allowed more operative independence.  For example, in Multi-disciplinary Breast Cancer Clinic, the second year resident will be responsible for presenting new patients with the various options for mastectomy reconstruction and discussing these options with the patient.  In the operating room, they will play a more autonomous role in dissecting flaps and performing other procedures. 

·         Microsurgery

·         Transplantation/immunology

·         Anatomy/physiology/embryology of Trunk

·         Benign and Malignant tumor of the trunk

·         Functional problems of the upper extremities

·         Hand reconstruction

·         Benign and malignant tumors of the head and neck

Denver Health and Cosmetic Surgery 

The Year 2 resident will participate in facial and lower extremity trauma cases, replantations and general reconstructive surgery cases.  The resident will assume more responsibility for evaluation and operative plan as well as perform facial fracture cases more autonomously.  The resident will rotate 2 days a week through a private cosmetic practice at Rose Medical Center where they will learn about the evaluation of cosmetic surgery patients and participate in operative procedures.  They will also learn about practice management and the ethics of cosmetic surgery.  Residents will have the opportunity to perform resident cosmetic cases under the supervision of the attending surgeons.  

·         Trunk reconstruction

·         Injectables

Children’s Hospital Colorado and VA 
The resident will be accorded more responsibility and autonomy in keeping with increased knowledge and skills.  The resident will play an important role in Multidisciplinary Cleft Clinic where they will present the patients to the team.  In the operating room, they will be expected to be proficient in cleft lip and palate surgery.  The resident will have more participation in major craniofacial reconstructions and other pediatric cases.  At the VA, the resident will play a more independent role with experience in managing pressure wounds as well as other general reconstructive cases including management of skin, head and neck cancers.    

·         Congenital disorders of the trunk

·         Congenital disorder of the upper extremity

·         Reconstructive techniques

·         Benign and malignant skin lesions

Year 3

In the third year, the resident will return to all services as the chief resident who will be expected to act as a co-surgeon with the attending.  The resident will take more responsibility in evaluation and preoperative planning and will have increased operative independence.  In microsurgical cases, residents will be able to simultaneously prepare a flap or recipient site and will perform anastomoses independently with assistance from the attending.  The resident will continue to staff their own cosmetic clinic and will perform these resident cases with supervision throughout the year.  A the conclusion of the year, the resident will be prepared to operate independently and will have had the opportunity to do so while still feeling fully supported by attendings. Resident case logs will be reviewed and any deficiencies will be filled by increasing dedicated time to those particular areas. 

University Hospital 
In the final year, the resident will build on the previous 2 years of experience by demonstrating acquired knowledge and independent surgical skills in the most complex cases. 

·         Benign and malignant hand tumors

·         Special techniques

·         Anatomy/Physiology/Embryology of the skin

·         Patient management/Office management

Denver Health and Cosmetic Surgery 
The resident on this rotation is again expected to assume greater independence.  They should be comfortable evaluating, operating on and managing facial trauma cases.  They will operate on their own cosmetic patients that they have evaluated in resident cosmetic clinic. 

·         Aesthetic surgery of the breast and trunk

·         Aesthetic surgery of the head and neck

·         Advertising

Children’s Hospital Colorado and VA 
The resident will be expected to perform straight forward cleft lip and palate surgery with minimal assistance from the attending and to instruct junior residents in pediatric plastic surgery cases.  At the VA, the chief will perform cases independently with attending supervision. 

·         Congenital, Aesthetic and Functional problems of the skin

·         Medicolegal and Psychiatric aspects of plastic surgery