Plastic Surgery Residency Program
The Plastic Surgery training program is designed to provide graduating residents with a comprehensive clinical experience and knowledge of the basic principles of plastic and reconstructive surgery. The operative and clinical experience available to the trainees is of sufficient volume and diversity to provide a broad and fundamental understanding of all aspects of the specialty.
Trainees rotate through five affiliated hospitals and on rotations that include aesthetics, trauma, pediatric/clefts/craniofacial, hand and upper extremity, and adult reconstructive surgery. There are also opportunities to rotate with plastic surgery sub-specialties in such areas as head and neck, oculoplastic, and primary burn care, and reconstruction (adult and pediatric).
More than 160,000 people are treated annually at the university's primary teaching facilities. UofL residents may participate in a wide array of patient treatment strategies and emerge from their time here with the confidence, knowledge, and experience to meet almost any professional challenge.
We also have specialized training facilities to assist the fellow in achieving educational goals. These include the Microsurgery Training Laboratory, Fresh Tissue Dissection and Surgical Practice Laboratory, and the Aesthetic Center.
The fellows also actively participate in the busy basic science research that is ongoing in the Division. Our residents generally complete 1,500 cases over the 3-year training period. Regarding our graduates, approximately 25 percent enter academics, 25 percent pursue further fellowship training, and over the years we have had very high pass rates for Board Certification.
The University of Louisville Division of Plastic Surgery has a strong academic commitment that includes basic and clinical research. We are affiliated with some of the most productive research Laboratories in the nation and there is a vigorous basic science and clinical research program ongoing in the Division. This provides an important experience for all residents.
Call is every fourth day. Finally, through an extensive list of weekly conferences, monthly journal clubs, rounds, didactic lectures and symposia, fellows are optimally prepared for diverse clinical challenges in practice, as well as for In-Service Examinations and certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
Plastic Surgery Residency Program Overview
The Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery program is at five affiliated hospitals of the University of Louisville clustered into a medical center complex in Louisville, Kentucky. Our academic faculty is comprised of six full-time members, three full-time researchers, and an active volunteer clinical faculty of approximately 30 members.
Our program is noted for the breadth, depth, and balance of clinical experience and for the challenging clinical complexity of case material.
Our laboratory research program has become widely acclaimed and adopted many microsurgical techniques. We have pioneered and developed many new flaps and have pioneered composite allograft transplantation, including the world’s first successful hand transplantation.
At this time, our Plastic Surgery Division offers both the Independent & Integrated Models. The Independent model is a three-year program after completing prerequisite training in General Surgery or ENT. The Integrated Model is a six-year program, with 3 years in General Surgery and 3 years in Plastic Surgery. Both programs are designed to provide graduating residents with a comprehensive clinical experience and knowledge of the basic principles of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The mission of this teaching program is to train conscientious, compassionate, careful, thoughtful, and competent plastic surgeons that are also well versed in scientific analysis and research principles.
The University of Louisville Plastic Surgery Program was founded by Leonard Weiner in 1973. Since then, more than 70 Plastic Surgery residents have graduated from our program. University of Louisville is known for pioneering many advances and techniques in Plastic Surgery, including: liposuction, microsurgery, muscle flap physiology, hand surgery, and surgical anatomy. Dr. Weiner brought suction-assisted lipoplasty to the United States after touring with the first ASPS expedition that investigated its use abroad.
Dr. Weiner also developed and initiated the implementation of the match system we use in Plastic Surgery for independent programs. Dr. Robert Acland is well-known for his pioneering work in the field of microsurgery and surgical anatomy, and he still directs our Fresh Tissue Anatomy Lab. Dr. Gordon Tobin was the first to describe and publish many muscle flaps and their modifications that we commonly use today. Dr. Morton Kasdan has many publications and books, including the first thumb revascularization procedure with Dr. Kleinert. Dr. Bradon Wilhelmi became Leonard Weiner Professor and Chief of the Division in 2007. He has transitioned the program to emphasize training through education with direct input from fellows and residents on the design of the curriculum, rotations, and conference schedule (300 conferences per year). Dr. Wilhelmi has served as chairman of Plastic Surgery Research Committee, hosting the meeting at University of Louisville in 2011 and committed to research almost 150 peer reviewed publications. For his commitment to education, Dr. Wilhelmi has received both the UofL and KMA education achievement awards in 2018 & 2020.
Plastic Surgery Residency Program Mission
This mission of the University of Louisville Plastic Surgery Residency Program is to provide an environment optimal for learning all aspects of Plastic Surgery through an expansive clinical volume in a multi-institutional setting, with a diverse and inclusive conference curriculum. Ultimately, we strive to develop Plastic Surgeons with impeccable ethical and professional conduct, and the skills and knowledge to become Board Certified and leaders in the Plastic Surgery field.
Educational Objectives
The goals and objectives of this program are to educate plastic surgeons that are analytical and scholarly in their approach to surgical problem solving, broadly experienced in all fields of the specialty, safe in their application of judgment and technique, and ultimately self-educating in a lifelong continuing medical education process.
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Core Competencies
Professionalism
Trainees must demonstrate a commitment to professionalism and an adherence to ethical principles.
Patient Care & Procedural Skills
Trainees must be able to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health.
Medical Knowledge
Trainees must demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological, and social-behavioral sciences, as well as the application of this knowledge to patient care.
Practice-Based Learning & Improvement
Trainees must demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate their care of patients, to appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and to continuously improve patient care based on constant self-evaluation and lifelong learning.
Interpersonal & Communication Skills
Trainees must demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families, and health professionals.
Systems-Based Practice
Trainees must demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care, including the social determinants of health, as well as the ability to call effectively on other resources to provide optimal health care.
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Residents
| PGY-8
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Milind Kachare, M.D.
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson
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Alex Nixon, M.D.
University of Tennessee
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| PGY-7
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Joshua MacDavid, M.D.
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Evan Westrick, M.D.
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| PGY-6
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Anthony Azzolini, M.D.
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Jacob Katsnelson, M.D.
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| PGY-2
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Candice Le Nguyen, M.D.
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Mitchell Peake, M.D.
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| PGY-1
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Shelby Graham, M.D.
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Brian Paul, M.D.
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| Contact: Amory Alvey
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Residency Coordinator
Phone: 502-852-6880
Email: plastics@louisville.edu
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Resident Documents
Please select a link to download a document:
Surgical Resident Stipend Rates (2022-2023)
| POST GRADUATE LEVEL |
ANNUAL |
| Post Graduate Level 1 |
$57,755.46 |
| Post Graduate Level 2 |
$59,913.83 |
| Post Graduate Level 3 |
$61,848.34 |
| Post Graduate Level 4 |
$64,642.39 |
| Post Graduate Level 5 |
$67,775.42 |
| Post Graduate Level 6 |
$70,834.52 |
| Post Graduate Level 7 |
$73,781.68 |
| Post Graduate Level 8 |
$77,703.51 |
Stipend rates based on 2.5% increase for all PG levels
(Parking expenses were rolled into stipends beginning July 2010)
Fringe and administrative rate is 28.00% of annual stipend
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Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Division Faculty
Please click on a physician's name to view their information.