Plastic Surgery

The Plastic Surgery Program/Selection Criteria/Accreditation Status

Division of Plastic Surgery

The Plastic Surgery residency program at the New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)-UMDNJ follows an integrated format. Prior residents had matched into a combined program and will complete a combined program. In the integrated residency format, like the combined format, residents will complete 3 years of general surgery training prior to advancing to 3 years of dedicated plastic surgery training.  Contracts at NJMS-UMDNJ are issued annually with progression contingent upon satisfactory completion of the prior year. Residents must pass all three parts of the USMLE examination before entering the third year of residency at NJMS-UMDNJ. It is required for the residents to obtain approval of their prerequisite training from the American Board of Plastic Surgery prior to the beginning of their training in the Plastic Surgery Residency Program.

Selection Criteria

The selection of the residents for entry into the NJMS-UMDNJ, Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, currently takes place within the guidelines of the National Residency Matching Program. All applications are reviewed by the Program Director/Chief of Plastic Surgery and by the other full time faculty members. Candidates selected for interview are personally interviewed during the months of December and January. The Program Director, the full time faculty, and clinical faculty members interview each selected applicant. Each applicant is evaluated on his/her own merit; therefore no specific formula for interview selection can be delineated. However, the following criteria are considered when evaluating a candidate during an interview: performance in medical school, letters of recommendations, reputation of their medical school, USMLE scores, dedication to the field of Plastic Surgery, and evidence of academic achievement. Plastic surgery residents provide tours of the facility during the interview process. Other plastic surgery residents meet with applicants and discuss all aspects of their training. The interview committee meets immediately after the interviews, in an open forum, and develops a rank order of the applicants based on the above criteria as well as the impression given during the respective interviews.

Accreditation Status

The program was reviewed by the ACGME- RRC in 2007 and received full accreditation with a 5 year cycle and no citations.