University of Cincinnati Medical Center-College of Medicine Program

Program Identity & Fit

University of Cincinnati's Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand and Burn Surgery program is a small, academically-embedded division training both integrated (6-year) and independent (3-year) residents side-by-side across UC Medical Center, Cincinnati Children's, West Chester Hospital, and community sites, giving broad exposure across pediatric, hand, burn, breast/body, craniofacial, and trauma/lower extremity reconstruction. The curriculum is structured around six repeating senior rotations for graduated responsibility, protected weekly didactics, quarterly cadaver labs and microsurgery sessions, and an unusual 2-week global surgery elective at Mzuzu Central Hospital in Malawi for austere-environment burn and reconstructive operative experience. Research is a defined annual expectation rather than optional, with residents required to submit work to the Ohio Valley Society of Plastic Surgery meeting and ideally a peer-reviewed publication, supported by protected research days and travel funding. About half of graduates pursue subspecialty fellowship (microsurgery, hand, craniofacial, aesthetic), with the remainder entering community or private practice, reflecting a program that values operative independence, cohesiveness, and versatility over a single narrow career track.