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We offer a comprehensive 5-year training program in Plastic Surgery, including all core competencies and enriched subspecialty training.
The Ottawa Hospital (TOH), our primary academic training institution, is the regional Level One trauma center and serves a catchment area of 1.2 million people. Residents also rotate through the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), our community site the Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH), and the Ross Tilley Burn Centre at Sunnybrook in Toronto.
At the Civic Hospital residents are exposed to craniofacial trauma, peripheral nerve surgery, reconstructive microsurgery with emphasis on trauma reconstruction, as well as complex hand & wrist surgery. The General and Riverside campuses offer exposure to alloplastic and autologous breast reconstruction, oncologic surgery with complex reconstructive microsurgery, as well as gender-affirming top surgery and aesthetic surgery. The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario offers clinical exposure to pediatric plastic surgery including trauma, cleft lip/palate, craniosynostosis, brachial plexus, and congenital hand. Community plastic surgery rotations are completed at the Queensway Carleton Hospital in PGY-2 and PGY-3.
Further information about our program, including education, research, and faculty can be found on our website.
All candidates must meet the Ontario criteria of eligibility.
Videos and photos will be posted on our website.
We are a growing Division with a young and energetic group of staff.
One of our biggest strengths of our training program is our people. We cultivate a collegial and open relationship between surgeons and learners, and have a supportive and close-knit group of residents.
We provide exceptional early operative exposure starting in PGY-1. As there are no fellows, residents have the advantage of direct hands-on teaching with staff in both the operating theatre and minor surgery. The minor surgery clinics provide management of both common and complex plastic surgery problems under local anesthesia, including the use of C-arm and internal fixation for management of hand fractures.
Our residents begin microsurgical training in first year, with 5-7 microvascular simulations on an annual basis as part of a comprehensive curriculum. This program incorporates simulated biological tissue and live models, which enables junior learners to gain experience prior to direct participation in the operating room. This allows them to step in at to microsurgical cases at a high level during their senior years.
We also run a dedicated cadaver lab in the summer months. Residents are given the opportunity to cement their surgical anatomy and practice skills such as local, regional, and free tissue flaps in a self-directed fashion.
Our resident cosmetic clinic provides the unique opportunity for chief residents to run their own clinics and ORs under the supervision of a dedicated staff cosmetic surgeon. There are only several programs of this kind in Canada. This provides a unique fellowship-style experience where residents exert a large degree of autonomy in managing aesthetic patients while remaining supported by a staff expert.
Many of our residents and faculty participate in surgical outreach in the developing world. This is an excellent opportunity to interact with a diverse group of patients and learn about global surgery. Residents may pursue these trips as electives in their senior years.
Residents have access to a division research assistant for scientific projects. Funding is also provided for attendance at courses and conferences.
Our teaching curriculum includes weekly subspecialty case-based rounds, hand rounds and academic half day teaching. Residents participate in microsurgery labs, learning and refining microsurgical techniques with direct staff supervision at the University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre. During the summer months residents participate in cadaver dissection labs at the University of Ottawa where surgical approaches and flap anatomy are reviewed. As a Division we meet monthly during the academic year to review recent publications in our specialty at journal club.
Plastic Surgery residents are expected to complete annual research projects and present at the Division research day, as well as encouraged to present at national and international conferences. Dr. Claudia Malic is the research director and residents are supported by our Plastic Surgery research assistant.
Friendly, supportive and outgoing! We have a close group of 10 residents that truly makes training at the University of Ottawa an exceptional experience. Though COVID has made social gatherings challenging, the resident group continues to keep in close touch with frequent resident zoom catch-ups, as well as daily messages to stay in touch.
Otherwise, the resident group makes every effort to get together when possible to hang out and enjoy the finer things in life, including the annual cottage weekend with plenty of BBQ and resident outings around the Ottawa area. In Ottawa, we have the advantage of being in smaller city with big city amenities. It’s not infrequent that you can find our residents out for hikes in Gatineau, enjoying restaurants around Parliament/Lansdowne/Byward Market, or camping at any of the surrounding National Parks. Follow our groups Instagram at uottawaplasticsurgery and our Division website to keep up to date on our program
Our residents have had excellent success in obtaining prestigious fellowships, both nationally and internationally. See the “Alumni” portion of our webpage for details.
Residents are supported by a diverse group of staff with residency and fellowship training from across Canada, the United States and Europe. All graduates are experienced in the breadth of Plastic Surgery and are well-positioned for any Plastic Surgery career, including academic or community positions.
