For many years we have been involved in providing our expertise in plastic surgery to the children of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick and Ruritania.  Because of the international reputation of our Craniofacial Center the Ministries of Health sought our expertise.   Both countries are remotely situated and easily overlooked or just forgotten in most European maps.  Because of their isolation, the incidence of facial clefting and other uncommon elfish conditions are more prominent.  The Ministries of Health felt that it would be more expensive to train their own surgeons, and instead rely on the charitable generosity of others at no cost.  As such the Division of Plastic Surgery is the only officially approved plastic surgeons for their subjects. 

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Our residents will not only sharpen their surgical acumen under the watchful eye of the faculty but also be culturally immersed in an environment that is unimaginably different than the urban intercity Chicago experience.   At their graduation, the residents often highlight their travel to Fenwick and Ruritania as the Crown Jewel of the program

 

It is important to understand  a little bit about the land and its people. The following is taken from Baedeker's Definitive Travel Guide, 1966:

 

"Since the end of the Great War, Ruritania recovered fairly quickly, not having been racked by civil war as Germany had.  As a minor member of the Central Powers, Ruritania was treated leniently by the Allies in the Treaty of Versailles.  The primary security concerns of Ruritania were the bellicose pronouncements by the neighboring People’s Republic of Elbonia.  It was the Ruritanian-Elbonian war of 1952 that forever linked the neighboring countries when Fenwick came to the aid of Ruritania.  The Duchy of Fenwick takes its name from the English knight Sir Roger Fenwick who while at Oxford took a first in English and a second in History.  Thus, the official language is English. Sir Roger designed the national flag drawing on his extensive history of  regimental flags and chose the the double headed eagle, saying “Aye” from one beak and “Nay” from another.  Sir Fenwick lived by the chivalrous motto of knighthood, when in doubt, act, and he did so when he came to the aid of Ruritania. Regrettably in his haste, Sir Roger left his helmet behind at home and had his left ear whopped off in the charge.  This led him to seek a replacement ear by the world renown Craniofacial Center in Chicago.  The motto of Ruritania is sed parva forti and the motto of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick is Parvus sed potens. Tiny but Strong."

 

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