Welcome to the University of Wisconsin Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery! We are proud of our residency training program, and equally proud to share it with you. UW Plastics offers a diverse clinical, research and educational training program, carefully tailored to our diverse and outstanding resident cohort. We currently select three Integrated Residents per year, all of whom will complete their six-year track of comprehensive plastic surgery training in a supportive and nurturing environment. We focus not only on teaching the skills needed to be an excellent plastic surgeon, but also on research, education, and professional development. Our goal is to train well-rounded plastic surgeons who are ready to enter the specialty of their choice and who are ready to advance to the field to the next level.
UW Plastic Surgery consists of 12 full-time faculty who cover the spectrum of plastic and reconstructive surgery including focused training in microsurgery, hand/upper extremity surgery, craniofacial surgeons, pediatric plastic surgery and gender affirmation surgery. Our residents also participate in community-centered practices to add to their breadth of plastic surgery and care for our veterans at our VA Hospital.
Throughout the training program we strongly encourage residents to participate in plastic surgery societies locally, regionally, and nationally. We embolden our residents to submit and present at meetings throughout the state, mid-west as well as nationally and help via financial support for those efforts. Our program is also a leader in Global Surgery, with current sites in Thailand, Egypt, Vietnam, South Africa and Rwanda. On our trips we strive to give back. We teach, provide select clinical care with long-term follow up and aim to develop bi-directional life-long partnerships around the globe.
Specific to research, we offer protected research rotations, excellent mentorship and a collaborative space in our federally funded laboratory that is supported by PhD level scientists, a lab-based fellowship trained microsurgeon and resources par excellence. Further, our microsurgery training program, led by Dr. Weifeng Zeng, teaches all residents the fundamentals of microsurgery in the laboratory starting Internship Day One.
Our faculty pride themselves on producing the best residents in the country. It is our mission. This basic tenant – to produce the best surgeons in the country – is supported by our residents frequently getting their number one fellowship (often a top tier) and/or job. We provide a graduated autonomy model and encourage our senior residents to take on a more clinical instructor role by teaching and taking junior residents through cases and clinic.
We hope to welcome you to Madison to meet our UW Plastic Surgery family and experience our dynamic and supportive culture for yourself.
Brian H. Gander, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Residency Program Director
