Quick Tips & FAQs: Residents

What are the Board's training requirements?

5 progressive years of clinical general surgery residency training, sufficient to qualify for certification by the American Board of Surgery (ABS) or
Approved alternate subspecialty pathway: Neurological surgery, orthopaedic surgery, otolaryngology, thoracic surgery, urology or oral and maxillofacial surgery

Minimum of 3 years of plastic surgery training for Independent programs or 6 years for Integrated programs. Final year must be at the level of senior responsibility.
Effective July 1, 2014, all 3 years of an Independent Program must be completed in the same program.
Plastic surgery training must be obtained in either the U.S. or Canada in programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).

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What is the difference between Independent, Combined, and Integrated residency training programs?

Independent – 5 years of general surgery or alternate pathway, matching into a 3-year plastic surgery program.
Combined – 3 years of general surgery and 3 years of plastic surgery completed in the same institution. Combined programs were phased out effective July 1, 2015. No applicants will be accepted into this model.
Integrated – 6 years in a plastic surgery program.

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How do I complete the Evaluation of Training Form?

The form should be submitted before beginning plastic surgery training for independent residents or before the end of the first year of residency for integrated residents.
Complete the Registration process to gain access to the Resident Registration and Evaluation of Training Form.
List all training both completed and anticipated.
- Independent residents: List 5 years of prerequisite training by PGY level. List month-to-month rotations for all 5 years.
- Integrated residents: List all 6 years by PGY year, and list only the first 3 years of month-to-month rotations.
- Ask the Program Director or Residency Coordinator for anticipated rotation schedule.
Electronic payment for the Processing Fee. Refer to the Booklet of Information for all Board fees which can be found on the Board’s website. The Processing Fee is non-refundable
Please allow 2-3 weeks for the processing and emailing of your Confirmation Letter. The Confirmation Letter is a preliminary verification of training to meet the Board’s requirements for certification.
It is the resident’s responsibility to provide the Plastic Surgery Program Director or Residency Coordinator with a copy of the Confirmation Letter.
Refer to Instruction Letter for additional details.

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Transfers:

A resident transfer at or below the PGY IV level into a vacant position in an Integrated Program must be approved by the Program Director and the Board.
No transfers will be accepted after the beginning of PGY IV because the last 3 years of Integrated residency training must be completed in the same program.
REQUIRED:
- Letter from current Program Director indicating exact dates of training and month-to-month rotations that will be completed at the time of the transfer.
- Letter from the receiving Integrated Program Director indicating the acceptance of the resident for the curriculum at that level of transfer, and
- Completed Resident Registration & Evaluation of Training Form and Processing Fee.

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Research:

The Board will allow a total of 12 weeks of research during a 6-year program and allow a total of 6 weeks of research during a 3-year program.

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Personal Leave:

The ABPS has established an optional 12 weeks of Personal Leave that is available to residents in Integrated, Independent and Competency-Based plastic surgery residency training programs. The Personal Leave Policy went into effect beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year.

The 12 weeks of Personal Leave may only be used for maternity leave, paternity leave, medical leave, foster care, adoption, family leave or elective rotations (both international and domestic). Personal Leave can be used exclusively for leave as defined by the Board, exclusively for rotations or any combination of both.

Personal Leave is not required to be taken as a single block, but can be distributed throughout the entire residency as the training program allows.
These 12 weeks of Personal Leave replaced the previous 12-week block of elective rotations.

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Elective Rotations:

To monitor resident safety, all international and individual domestic* rotations, whether full clinical or observational, must be approved by the Program Director and the ABPS. In addition, all international rotations must be approved by the Plastic Surgery Residency Review Committee (RRC-PS). Refer to the Board’s requirements for international rotations.
Domestic rotations that are a standard part of the program’s curriculum (all residents in the program will complete that rotation and the training program has a Program Letter of Agreement (PLA) for that rotation) do not require Board approval. Domestic rotations that are specific to an individual will require Board approval under the Personal Leave Policy if not all residents will complete that rotation during training.

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Program Directors:

Program Directors are required to complete the online Preliminary Residency Graduation Recommendation for Certification form for Senior residents by December 31st.
Program Directors are required to provide final confirmation of completion of plastic surgery residency training by July 1st.