Plastic Surgery Operative Logs

In each facility, a mechanism is in place to record all inpatient and outpatient surgery in which the plastic surgery residents participate. Our program participates in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) resident data collection system. A copy of the case log is due to the resident coordinator and assistant resident coordinator every Monday morning to ensure timely and accurate tracking of resident cases.

Resident Evaluations

Evaluation is uniform throughout the program. To continuously monitor the resident's progress in acquiring an adequate knowledge base, the faculty will use the annual plastic surgery in-service examination and has developed (and will continue to develop) additional objective testing which is given at least twice yearly including mock oral exams and tri-annual exams based off of selected literature leading up to the in-service. Source material for these examinations may include question banks currently maintained by the department of surgery or the plastic surgery division, older in-service examinations, directed essay questions of clinical relevance, or oral examinations with a structured (outline) format.

Standardized clinical performance evaluation forms will be used. Residents will be evaluated by all attending staff who have participated with them in patient management during the rotation. Each resident will receive a clinical performance evaluation every three months and at the end of each clinical rotation. The evaluations will be directly discussed with each individual resident by the program director in quarterly meetings. At the conclusion of the interview, both the program director and the resident will be asked to sign the evaluation document. Written documentation of these interviews and all clinical performance evaluations will be archived for a minimum of five years. Milestones will be used to track the residents progress and performance.

At the beginning of the academic year and prior to assuming clinical duties, each resident attends a mandatory orientation program. At this time, the Plastic Surgery Residency Orientation Manual, the LLUMC House Staff Manual, Comprehensive Surgery Curriculum, and the ASPS Resource Book are provided. Written procedures for redress of grievances and for due process are provided. In addition, the specific resident responsibilities, the expectations of the attending staff, and the evaluation format will be discussed.