The Stanford Plastic Surgery program was an innovation. They were the first in the country to combine general surgery and plastic surgery training to focus the training of residents on what they need to be great surgeons in plastic surgery.
The 50th celebration was a meeting at the beginning of October. Around 150 of the prior residents and attendings came back to Stanford, where they lectured on what they learned at Stanford and where it has taken them. It was amazing to see the founders Dr. Chase and Dr. Laub still active – both are icons in our field, and carved a new way of training from which I benefited. Almost all of the heads of the department up to Dr. Hentz and Dr. Chang were there. I saw residents I trained with who I haven’t seen for years.
The lectures filled an entire weekend. They featured us, and showed how broad the experience is, with graduates doing everything from basic science research in stem cells, to innovating new medical products in a think tank, to private practices which incorporate new anti-aging medicine or focus on transgender surgery or do complex facial reconstruction, to one of our graduates who will head the ASPS (the major plastic surgery society) next year.
It reminded me of what rich experiences I had while training:
- Hand, microvascular, pediatric plastic surgery (cleft lip and palate), facial fractures, cosmetic surgery, burns, and reconstruction.
- Training in different settings: Stanford, the VA, Santa Clara County Hospital, Kaiser Santa Clara, and private practice.
- How to make a difference: Interplast, and travel to third world countries to help those less fortunate.
- Research and presentations at national meetings.
I am proud to have trained at Stanford. The weekend was a great reminder.
