University of Utah Health Program

Program Identity & Fit

The University of Utah integrated plastic surgery residency is an academic, tertiary/quaternary referral program serving as the regional referral center for the Intermountain West, with training spread across University of Utah Hospital/Huntsman Cancer Hospital, Primary Children's Hospital, and the Salt Lake VA, giving broad exposure across adult reconstructive, aesthetic, hand, craniofacial, and pediatric plastic surgery. The program matches three integrated and one independent resident per year, structures the first three years around broad surgical subspecialty exposure before progressive plastic-specific autonomy, and includes a resident-run cosmetic clinic where seniors develop and present their own operative plans under faculty supervision. Research is embedded but not singularly central: residents must submit at least one abstract yearly, division research grants are awarded twice annually, and the Department of Surgery maintains substantial institutional research infrastructure (core labs, biorepository, SPARC data core), supporting residents who pursue academic or fellowship-oriented paths. Alumni outcomes split fairly evenly between subspecialty fellowship training (microsurgery, craniofacial, hand, aesthetic) feeding into academic faculty positions and private practice, indicating a program comfortable producing both community proceduralists and academic surgeons rather than mandating one track.