Microsurgery Fellowship

Welcome to the UT Southwestern Microsurgery Fellowship Program site. This site was built to provide you with initial information about our Microsurgery Fellowship. If you have any additional questions we encourage you to call or visit us.

Clinical Experience

The Microsurgery Fellowship is a one-year program in which the fellow is exposed to a wide array of microsurgeries. The average number of microsurgery cases per year is around 300. The fellow has the opportunity to work with a large and diverse microsurgical core faculty and is involved in an average of 180–200 microsurgery cases a year. Approximately 80 percent of the cases involve microsurgical breast reconstruction (DIEP, SIEA, PAP, TUG, SGAP/IGAP), 10 percent dynamic facial palsy reconstruction, and the remainder are facial trauma and cancer, scalp, lower extremity, and upper extremity reconstructions.

The majority of surgeries are performed in William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital. Some surgeries will be performed at Zale Lipshy University Hospital based on patient needs, Children’s Health℠, and Parkland Hospital – the level I trauma center associated with UT Southwestern.

As part of the Fellowship Program, the fellow has the opportunity to see patients pre- and post-operatively in the clinic based on their interests. This allows the fellow a chance to formulate surgical plans with the faculty, assess results, and encounter the treatment of complications, preparing them for their first year as faculty once they complete their training.

The fellowship is part of one of the largest academic residency programs in the United States. As such, the fellow, who often acts as junior faculty, will constantly work with residents. The fellow will gradually assume a teaching role for the residents, providing an opportunity to develop teaching skills useful in an academic or private practice environment. Like other microsurgery staff, the fellow will also help staff the residents at Parkland, an invaluable experience as a junior faculty that involves helping in the planning and execution of complex microsurgical cases.

Research Experience

The Microsurgery Fellowship year is a very busy surgical year with an emphasis on honing the clinical and surgical skills of the fellow, yet allows ample time for research and educational activities.

The fellow is encouraged and expected to be involved in research projects pertaining to microsurgery. Based on previous years, the fellow will have been involved in two to three papers at the end of their training and have a similar number of abstracts/posters in national meetings.

UT Southwestern's facilities allow a tremendous opportunity to perform both clinical and anatomical studies based on the interest of the fellow. The fellow may join studies led by the core faculty, but is very much encouraged to bring or devise their own research projects. We will allow ample time as well as help with funding to bring projects to fruition. If the fellow has a specific interest in basic science projects, labs are available.

The fellow will attend at least one national meeting per year but usually two are allowed based on individual interest and time permitting. The core meeting of the year will be the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery (ASRM), and the fellow will be funded for the meeting.

This fellowship is first and foremost a heavily oriented surgical fellowship. Our goal is to produce a competent micro-surgeon, capable of treating complex clinical scenarios, having the depth of offering patients a variety of treatments tailored for the individual patient, the capability to perform independent research, and the tools to lead in the academic or private setting.

We look forward to meeting you.