Professional Development Year & Research Opportunity

What is the Professional Development Year?

Between the 3rd and 4th clinical training years, residents have a year long professional development (PD) experience.  The exact details of the year are designed by the resident with guidance from Dr. James Chang, Chief of Plastic Surgery, and Dr. Paige Fox, Residency Program Director. The goal of the professional development year is to uniquely position the resident to stand out among their peers by providing them with a tailored experience in plastic surgery.  Each resident has different interests and, therefore, each experience is customized to match the resident’s passion. 

What Our Residents Are Saying

Professional Development Paths

Below are some common paths that residents in our program have taken in the past. Residents can also opt for a year working in silicon valley at one of many biotech start-ups. This additional year is designed to personalize and enhance the resident’s plastic surgery training.

 

Stanford Medicine - Clinical Excellence Research Fellowship

The Clinical Excellence Research Center (CERC) Design Fellowship has given physicians from across the United States the opportunity to become experts in value-based health care delivery innovation. Since 2011, 54 fellows in this 11-month program have designed Care Models associated with substantial disability and health spending.

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Microsurgery Fellowship at The Buncke Clinic

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Stanford Biodesign Fellowship 

Stanford Biodesign’s fellowships provide the most in-depth training experience in health technology innovation. All are multidisciplinary experiences that involve hands-on health technology projects with the help of Biodesign faculty and our industry experts.

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ReSurge International

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Danielle Rochlin, CERC Design Fellowship

During her PD Year, Dr. Rochlin participated in the Stanford CERC Design Fellowship. During this time, she published two papers:

  1. Economic Benefit of “Modern” Nonemergency Medical Transportation That Utilizes Digital Transportation Networks
  2. Health Care Is Failing the Most Vulnerable Patients: Three Underused Solutions
PD Year was an opportunity to grow as a researcher in our field. - Ruth Tevlin