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Program Peek: Duke University Division of Plastic, Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery

  • By Rosie Tillis, MD
  • Saturday, August 1, 2020

History

  • The Duke Division of Plastic, Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery was founded in 1934 by Randolph Jones, MD.
  • The Duke Plastic Surgery residency training program was started by Kenneth Pickrell, MD, in 1946 and was one of the first in the country.
  • Oral Surgery, Orthodontics and other Oral Health services are all part of the division going back to its origin. The Duke Cleft Team was one of the first multidisciplinary teams in the United States.
  • The integrated residency program began in 2013 and the independent program was phased out through 2018.
  • The integrated residency program takes three residents each year and is a six-year program.
  • The Duke Plastic Surgery mission is to provide comprehensive education and experiential training in an environment that challenges to foster personal growth, yet nurtures to cultivate integrity, professionalism and leadership.

Leadership

  • Jeffrey Marcus, MD: Chief, Division of Plastic, Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery; Residency Program Director
  • Brett Phillips, MD, MBA: Associate Residency Program Director
  • Suhail Mithani MD: Vice Chief of Clinical Operations
  • Scott Hollenbeck, MD: Vice Chief of Research
  • David Brown, MD, PhD: Director, Medical Student Clerkships
  • David Powers, MD, DMD: Director, Craniomaxillofacial Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship and DUHS CMF Trauma program
  • Linda Cendales, MD: Director, Duke Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation Program; Chair, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
  • Howard Levinson, MD: Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
  • Alexander Allori, MD, MPH: Assistant Director, Pediatric Plastic & Craniofacial Surgery; Director, DataLab Clinic for Clinical Care and Population Health
  • Detlev Erdmann, MD, PhD, MHSc: Chief, Plastic Surgery Section, Durham VA Medical Center

National Leadership

  • Duke faculty and alumni have historically held multiple leadership roles:
    • 13 Plastic Surgery Program chairs and directors
    • Six chairs, American Board of Plastic Surgery
    • Seven presidents, American Society of Plastic Surgeons
    • Two presidents, American Association of Plastic Surgeons
    • Two presidents, American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgeons
    • Five presidents, Plastic Surgery Foundation
    • Two presidents, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons
    • Eight presidents, Southeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons
    • Two presidents, Plastic Surgery Research Council
  • Dr. Marcus is immediate-past President of the Rhinoplasty Society
  • Dr. Levinson is the current The Plastic Surgery Foundation Board Vice President and Past President of the Plastic Surgery Research Council
  • Dr. Cendales recently served as the President of the International Society of Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation and has been elected to serve on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Board of Directors

Clinical Experience

  • Duke has 18 integrated plastic surgery residents (three per year) and 16 full-time faculty.
  • Duke University Hospital: DUH is a 957-bed hospital (and expanding with a new inpatient tower to open in 2020) with 51 O.R.s. DUH is a Level I trauma center and has on-site clinics as well as a nearby ambulatory surgery center.
  • Duke Children's Hospital: Duke Children's Hospital is located within the main hospital and is the primary site of our Pediatric and Craniofacial services.
  • Durham VA: The Durham VA is a 251-bed, tertiary care center geographically adjacent and associated with Duke University. The plastic surgery program runs a robust VA resident clinic with surgeries staffed by our VA attending physicians.
  • Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center: The ASC is a freestanding surgical center with nine O.R.s and is a short walk from DUH.
  • Duke Aesthetic Surgery Center: The Duke campus also includes the Aesthetic Surgery Center, which houses our aesthetic clinics, resident injectables clinic, as well as two operating rooms. The facility is currently undergoing a $1.3 million renovation to improve and expand clinical spaces.
  • Duke Oral Health Clinic: Adjacent to the Aesthetic Center, this new facility is home to Craniofacial Orthodontic services and Oral Surgery outpatient care.
  • Duke Raleigh Hospital: The newest addition to the Duke Plastic Surgery curriculum is Duke Raleigh Hospital, which has a specific focus on breast reconstruction, lymphedema, and transgender medicine.

Educational Curriculum

  • Journal Club is hosted monthly at local restaurants and attended by residents and faculty. Residents also participate in Hand Journal Club in conjunction with the Division of Hand Surgery.
  • Grand Rounds is hosted as a weekly morning conference for residents and faculty along with a monthly M&M session.
  • Indications Conference is a weekly conference in which residents partake in surgical planning and decision-making for patients in an oral-boards format.
  • Hand Conference is hosted as a weekly conference with the Hand Surgery program; it includes lectures and dissections with both orthopedics and plastic surgery faculty.
  • Soft Skills Curriculum is a progressive education over the six-year residency led by faculty members Dr. Allori, Dr. Marcus and Sharon Clancy, MD. The structured multi-modality course covers topics often termed "soft skills," including teamwork and team building, leadership training, resilience, communication, crucial conversations and introspection
  • Virtual Education continues during the time of social distancing with weekly educational curriculum including video conferences and national society guest lectures.
  • Human Fresh Tissue Lab offers the cadaver lab owned by plastic surgery; it's available 24/7 for case preparation, practice and weekly dissections. It's the site of our numerous educational courses.
  • Microsurgery Course involves a rigorous, weeklong course during PGY3 dedicated to practicing microsurgical techniques on live rodent models, with one-on-one instruction.
  • Microsurgery Lab allows residents to have 24/7 access to our microsurgical laboratory, which is equipped with two microscopes.

Research & Conferences

  • Research is structured so that each resident is expected to be involved in at least one (but generally more than one) active research project. Additional quality improvement projects are undertaken yearly by groups of multiple residents as a program requirement of all surgical residents.
  • Funding for research projects comes from local and national grants from the DOD, ASPS, NIH and multiple other organizations.
  • Duke Flap Course, now in its 18th year, is an annual course dedicated to sharing knowledge from national and international attendings while watching and helping in live dissections of flaps in our human fresh tissue lab.
  • CMF Trauma Course hosted by Duke includes an annual, craniofacial ballistics trauma course with lectures and fresh tissue fracture reduction and plating, led by Dr. Powers – an Army-trained craniofacial surgeon who trained at Shock Trauma and Walter Reed.
  • Oncologic Reconstruction Course allows Duke residents to participate in another yearly course, which started as a partnership between Duke and Hopkins, and focuses on reconstruction of challenging oncologic resection defects.
  • AO Courses permit PGY2 and PGY3 residents to have the opportunity to choose AO courses in CMF trauma or hand surgery and receive full funding and support to attend these courses.
  • Support for meetings allows residents to receive full financial and clinical time support from the program to attend any meeting at which they have an oral presentation, along with one additional major and one additional minor meeting for PGY4-6.

Resident Benefits

  • A proud, supportive, team-oriented atmosphere where accomplishments and achievements are encouraged and celebrated
  • Strong mentorship, career planning and advocacy
  • Free parking adjacent to the hospital; hospital gym; white coats; and Duke Plastic Surgery Scrubs
  • Resident fund for loupes purchases in PGY1 and PGY4
  • Travel expenses and registration for national and regional meetings
  • Extensive "swag," including personalized scrubs, jackets, surgical hats
  • Education fund for book purchases
  • Smaller city living with suburbs nearby allow for a social and active outdoor lifestyle
  • Nearby Blue Ridge Mountains – as well as Outer Banks beaches – for weekend getaways

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