Department of Plastic Surgery
(909) 558-5500
PGY V Resident Rotation
Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Medical Center/Research (Six-month rotation)
The PGY V resident assigned to the VA Hospital rotation is responsible for the day-to-day management of all inpatients assigned to the plastic surgery service and all inpatient consultations for plastic surgery. The resident is supervised by senior attending staff, primarily the on-site chief of service, and will in turn supervise the general surgery intern. Daily attending backup and on-call support is coordinated and published in the monthly divisional call schedule. At present, the weekly schedule for the plastic surgery service includes 1 ½ day of operating time spread between the major operating room and the ambulatory surgical facility and also one designated plastic surgery clinic weekly. The resident follows patients from clinic and preoperative consultation through surgery; they also follow postoperative patients in the plastic surgery outpatient clinic, assuring satisfactory continuity of care.
This rotation was designated to allow the resident time to be involved with specific non-clinical duties and research. The VA resident will assist in the preparation of teaching conference schedules and will also be assigned to prepare regional cadaver dissections which will be used in anatomy teaching sessions for all the residents. The resident will have the opportunity to be involved in either ongoing basic science research or a clinical research project of his/her choosing. This rotation is offered in the PGY V year, rather than the PGY VI year, specifically so that the resident will have a more realistic opportunity to conceptually develop a research protocol and complete the project prior to graduation from the plastic surgery residency program. It is expected that this research project, completed during this rotation, will be submitted and presented at the annual senior resident conference.
The PGY V resident shares evening and weekend call with the PGY VI and PGY IV resident at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Daily attending backup and support for both institutions is coordinated and published in the monthly divisional call schedule.