University of California San Francisco Program

Program Identity & Fit

UCSF is one of the oldest integrated plastic surgery residencies in the country, a six-year academic program built around tertiary/quaternary reconstructive care at UCSF Medical Center and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, spanning craniofacial and cleft surgery, microvascular reconstruction, hand surgery, gender-affirming care, and complex wound and cancer reconstruction. The program embeds a dedicated year of academic development time between the third and fourth clinical years for research or an advanced degree, reflecting an explicit mission to train future leaders and academic chiefs of plastic surgery (three current division chiefs among its 100+ graduates). Faculty run named, physician-scientist-led laboratories (Pomerantz Lab in tissue regeneration, Hansen Lab in outcomes research and underserved care, LIN Lab in 3D printing/AI-driven surgical innovation) and the division supports in-house microsurgery and craniofacial fellowships, signaling deep subspecialization infrastructure and a pipeline toward fellowship and academic careers. The program values residents oriented toward scholarly productivity, leadership trajectories, and technical range across the full reconstructive spectrum rather than primarily cosmetic-focused practice.