Program Goals

The education of our residents is the main goal of the UBC Plastic Surgery Residency Training Program. Faculty throughout the province participate in teaching and research. Residents rotate through various hospitals in the province and have elective rotations. Residents take on graduated responsibilities throughout their residency to reach the ultimate goal of becoming a competent Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Plastic Surgeon.

The goal of our training program is to develop fully trained Plastic Surgeons Surgeons who are able to:

• Successfully pass the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada specialty examination in Plastic Surgery
• Practice at a consultant level in Plastic Surgery
• Demonstrate outstanding knowledge of Plastic Surgery and other related disciplines
• Obtain exceptional clinical knowledge and operative skills
• Show proficiency in Plastic Surgery procedures
• Become a medical expert and scholar.
• Act in a professional manner with excellent collaboration, health-advocacy and communications skills
• Exhibit excellent leadership skills
• Conduct research using best practices and demonstrate a thorough understanding of research methodology.

During the first 2 years of the program, residents participate in the Surgical Foundations Program with all other surgical residents at UBC with weekly seminars, technical skills laboratory sessions, online case-based learning modules, CRASH, the Principles of Surgery examination review lectures and a series of formative assessments.

Clinical Rotations

The Plastic Surgery Residency Program has access to busy and high acuity surgical services at hospitals across British Columbia. Lower Mainland hospitals include: Vancouver General Hospital, UBC Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital, BC Children’s Hospital, Mount Saint Joseph Hospital, Royal Columbian Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital, and Richmond Hospital.

As a distributed program, residents have a province wide presence and must rotate through rotations around the province. Other hospitals in the province residents will have the opportunity to train at include Kelowna General Hospital, Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, Royal Jubilee and the North Island Hospital in Campbell River. A community rotation in Bella Bella is also offered with a specific focus on working with Indigenous populations.

Clinical rotations include: ICU; Oculoplastics; Derm Surgery; Periop-Impact; Neurosurgery; Crash; Gen Surg Oncology; Ortho Trauma; Vascular; Emerg; Ent Oncology

Program Highlights

The Plastic Surgery Resident Training Program at UBC is dedicated to helping residents become exceptionally well-trained plastic surgeons in Canada.  After completion of residency, graduates will be competent and comfortable to manage all areas of plastic surgery care.  Our sites offer exposure to the breadth of plastic surgery, which facilitates this excellent training and experience.  We are proud to be recognized as having a training environment that is supportive and friendly.

The Resident Program Committee (RPC) has structure and personnel that has been created to support the program, teachers and residents. The focus is to ensure the requirements are met for the educational program, resources, learners, teachers, and administrative personnel.  There is a focus on patient care and safety, education, continuous quality improvement and resident wellness.

We have an exceptionally strong residency program, with a great number of dedicated faculty that are committed to training residents into top surgeons. There is always room to expand the experience, and this remains a focus for the RPC. The program holds exit interviews for the graduating residents every year and looks to focus on the strengths they have identified with their experiences during residency and integrate their recommendations for growth. This program is designed as “Top Gun” plastic surgery training time.  To be successful, residents are encouraged to read around cases and obtain as much hands-on, technical experience as possible. The time goes by quickly.  Our philosophy is: work hard, stay positive and good things will happen.  The football star Pele summarizes it well:

“Success is no accident.  It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing, or learning to do.”

Residents contribute to the program in various ways through the Annual Resident Retreat and Resident Research Day as well as committees such as:

• Residency Program Committee
• Competence Committee
• Curriculum Committee
• Wellness and Social Committee
• Selection Committee

The Surgical Foundations exam is a Royal College examination that takes place in the spring of PGY 2. Passing this exam is a pre-requisite for all surgical residents to take the final specialty training exam. The Surgical Foundations Program at UBC is a longitudinal series of seminars and workshops that take place in the first two years of residency training.

CRASH The Surgical Competencies in Resuscitation and Stabilization of Hospital Patients (CRASH) Course is a 1-month modular curriculum that emphasizes key cognitive and technical competencies in caring for unstable patients. These include in-depth comprehension of essential scientific literature, critical appraisal skills, fluency in resuscitation algorithms in trauma and critical care, familiarity with technical aspects of resuscitation and effective communication and management skills in high-intensity situations. The course takes place in Block 4 of PGY 1 for all surgical residents.

Canadian Medical Graduates

Canadian medical school graduates must apply through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS). Details on how to apply through CaRMS can be found on the CaRMS website.

Internationally Sponsored Trainees An internationally-sponsored medical trainee is a physician who is not a Canadian citizen or a Canadian permanent resident and whose tuition and salary are funded by a sponsoring agency in their home country. A postgraduate training agreement must be in place between UBC and the international sponsoring agency before PGME can process an application. Details on how to apply can be found on the PGME website.

After completion of residency, graduates will be competent and comfortable to manage all areas of plastic surgery care. The program is five years with a core surgical foundation time of approximately 18 months and the remaining time focused on plastic surgery. During each of the three plastic surgery years, residents are expected to carry out a research project, either clinical or basic science.

Academic Half Day

Afternoons are academic half-day for residents and include independent research time, resident lectures and case discussions with faculty. Residents are excused from call and ward duties during this time. 

Journal Club

Journal Club is held once a month.  PGY 3-5 residents work with a mentor who approves of a paper for discussion.

Events

• Residents Research Series
• Plastics Mini Crash
• Plastics Microsurgery Course
• Fall Visiting Professor
• Fall Cadaver Lab
• Christmas Party
• Spring Visiting Professor
• Spring Cadaver Lab
• Resident Research Day
• Resident Grad Dinner
• Resident Retreat

• Matthew Carr, PGY 5
• Matthew Boroditsky, PGY 5
• Harpreet Pangli, R4 CIP
• Mariana Salazar PGY 4
• Henry Zhao, PGY 3, CIP
• Amir Khorrami, PGY 3
• Malak Al Wahaibi, PGY 3
• Olha Lutsiv, PGY 3
• Danille Cohen, PGY 2
• Sarah Sheikh, PGY 2
• Beraki Abraha, PGY 1
• Brandon Chai, PGY 1

All residents are involved in basic science or clinical research during their residency training, and each is involved in a burn project during their first years. An annual Resident Research Day showcases this research and residents also have the opportunity to present at the Department of Surgery Chung Day. Residents are encouraged and supported to present at National and International meetings. 

The Plastic Surgery Residency Program is a community of learners, faculty and staff who share responsibility for creating and maintaining a positive, inclusive, learning and work environment where all participants are valued and treated with respect. There is a a Resident Counselling and Peer Support Office committed to ensuring resident wellbeing as well as resources to report Learner Mistreatment. 

Resources

• Inclusivity in the Learning Environment
• Gender Bias in the Learning Environment
• Student Mistreatment Video
• Building Safe and Supportive Learning Environments

• PGME Policies & Procedures
• Resident Resources
• Resident Insider
• Resident as Teachers
• Transition into Practice Program
• Resident Management System
• Competency-Based Medical Education
• Entrada
• One45
• Mistreatment Help
• Resident Reimbursements
  
  Program Policies & Guidelines
• Plastic Surgery Resident Safety Policy – Coming soon 
• Plastic Surgery Adopted PGME Resident Wellness Policy – Coming Soon

• Surgical Foundations Exam – PGY 2
• Plastic Oral Exam Sessions Oct/ Jan – PGY 3, PGY 4, PGY 5
• Plastic Surgery Royal College Exam – PGY 5

• Co-Creating Mutual Goals
• Direct Observation and Feedback in a Clinical Setting
• Probing Clinical Reasoning through Collaborative Questioning
• Reflection and Feedback Conversations
• Competency by Design (CBD): Resident Training & Assessment
• Direct Observation Videos for AssessmentBuilding Safe and Supportive Learning Environments

Out of Province Residents

All postgraduate electives arranged for any training location within the province of British Columbia by Out of Province Medical Residents must be processed through the UBC PGME Dean’s Office.

Eligibility

• Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents currently enrolled in a recognized Family Practice or Specialty (Royal College) training program in Canada, OR
• Canadian Citizens currently enrolled in a recognized Family Practice or Specialty training program in the USA.

Process and Application

• Applicants must arrange their own postgraduate resident electives directly with an individual faculty member. Please check the Plastic Surgery Division faculty list
• Once the elective dates have been confirmed by faculty, applicants will need to work with the PGME Dean’s Office on the application and licensing. Please check Postgraduate Visiting Electives for information on application process and timeline, and required documents and administrative fee.

International Postgraduate Trainees

Currently, postgraduate electives by International Postgraduate Trainees are offered only to the potential applicants to the program under the Internationally Sponsored Trainee stream. All requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Eligibility

• Citizens of other countries enrolled in a recognized Family Practice or Specialty training who are pursuing further clinical or research training in their own specialty, but who have not yet completed sufficient training that would allow them to be listed (registered) as a specialist in their home country.

Process and Application Please check International Postgraduate Trainee for information on the process and timeline, administrative fee, credentials verification, English language proficiency requirements, immigration/work permit documentation and more.