Faculty Focus: Q&A with Kavitha Ranganathan, MD

In this installment of Faculty Focus, we present ASPS member Kavitha Ranganathan, MD, assistant professor of Surgery and director of Craniofacial Reconstruction at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.

Dr. Ranganathan earned her medical degree at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and completed general surgery and plastic surgery residencies at the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. Ranganathan, who completed a fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, has focused her research on increasing access to care in resource-limited environments – and addressing the burden of catastrophic expenditures in low- and middle-income countries.

PSR: How did you prepare for a competitive fellowship?

Dr. Ranganathan: Challenging yourself to be the best resident you can be is the best preparation for a fellowship. Proving that you are honest, hardworking and patient-centered is of the utmost importance. Because everything is so competitive these days, I would be mistaken in saying that there are no boxes that you must check from a fellowship director's standpoint – but in my mind, these are secondary to being passionate about what you're doing. Recognizing what makes you happy and not losing sight of that is important.

PSR: What impact did the fellowship have on your career?

Dr. Ranganathan: It improved my ability to teach, as it provided me with opportunities to teach on a completely different level. At my fellowship program, the residents were empowered to do what was best for their education. That environment made me realize that the only way I would get to do a case was if I was teaching it to someone else. This requires a completely different skillset that I'm fortunate I developed prior to my first year as faculty.

PSR: How important is a mentor – and how can we find one?

Dr. Ranganathan: A good mentor is the most critical component of your development on a personal and professional level in plastic surgery. I wouldn't have matched into plastic surgery without the support of critical mentors in my life. There are a couple of ways to find a good mentor. There are data-driven methods, such as looking up authors in PubMed to see how often they publish and where their trainees are on the author list. If someone puts their trainees as first author on their manuscripts, that's probably a good mentor. Conversely, if the mentor usually lists themselves as first author, that's probably not a generous mentor. Another option is to sign-up for team-based mentorship programs such as the ASPS Professional Resource Opportunities in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Education and Leadership (PROPEL) program. These programs increase your exposure to a variety of different mentors and can eventually help you find the right one. To learn more about PROPEL, log-in to PlasticSurgery.org, click on "Community" then on "Mentorship Program" under the Directories & Networking category.

PSR: What's the most important attribute of a resident?

Dr. Ranganathan: Being introspective. In order to show up and do better every day, you must be thoughtful about what you do and be critical of yourself.

PSR: How do you balance your professional and personal lives?

Dr. Ranganathan: Learning to accept chaos is important. Society in general wants us to buy into the notion that everything is picture-perfect, but no one's life is perfect because perfect doesn't exist. In my house, dinner means take out, my daughter is always the last one to be picked up from school (hopefully, she will laugh someday about the fact that we forgot to pick her up the other day), and laundry is our arch nemesis. That's OK, though, because at the end of the day we simply celebrate our survival.

PSR: What was your greatest non-medical challenge of training?

Dr. Ranganathan: Leading a group of people is extremely difficult, whether it's your clinic staff, administrative assistants or residents. Inspiring people to want to work hard and do a good job for you requires a different skillset than the traditional approach of using fear as a motivating factor. Being a "manager" and enacting principles of thoughtful leadership across a variety of levels is the biggest transition I had to acknowledge after becoming faculty. The fact is that you're responsible for a lot of people. It's not just about your education anymore, it's about inspiring a very large group and leading by example.

PSR: How would you complete this sentence? "I knew I wanted to become a plastic surgeon when..."

Dr. Ranganathan: I saw a TRAM flap transformed into a breast, which is crazy since I'm a craniofacial surgeon now. In that moment, I remember thinking: "Wow, I think I could love every part of this field."

PSR: What are some of the challenges of being a parent and a plastic surgeon?

Dr. Ranganathan: Being a good surgeon makes you a better mom. And being a good mom made me a better surgeon. The skill set required to balance the variety of responsibilities of a surgeon and parent are very similar. The only time I'm truly 100 percent living in the moment is when I'm in the O.R. – or when I'm home with my daughter. It's important to remember that you don't have to choose. It's possible to do both.

PSR: Describe your experience through residency and as an attending as a female plastic surgeon.

Dr. Ranganathan: No matter who you are, but especially if you are from certain backgrounds, you must consistently demonstrate excellence, from the minute you walk in the door. People are always judging, whether we like to admit it or not. Every minute of residency is your time to demonstrate excellence and to build yourself into the best surgeon you can be. It doesn't mean you won't make mistakes. But always try your best, and over time you'll be able to distinguish what you value from what others tell you to value.

PSR: What advice do you have for plastic surgery residents?

Dr. Ranganathan: If you feel as though you don't fit into the world of plastic surgery, plastic surgery needs you even more. When I entered the field, I knew I did not fit in – or, at least, I felt like I didn't fit in. I've recently realized this is far from the truth. Our patients, trainees and the plastic surgery specialty as a whole need people who are different.

This Q&A was facilitated by Vishwanath Chegireddy, MD, PGY-6 in the Harvard Plastic Surgery Residency Program, Boston.