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What Makes our Plastic Surgery Program Unique
The UIC Plastic Surgical Training Program is mulitdimensional; the faculty in their day-to-day practices, interests, and research place importance on broadening the scope of the resident training experience. The following experiences are certainly not requirements of any residency training program, but they are ones that we have developed, integrated into our training program, and ones whereby we feel help to make our program unique.
Craniofacial Virtual Surgery Simulation Laboratory
For over two decades we have been at the fore-front of imaging to help surgeons visualize the complex anatomy and reconstructive options in three-dimensions. As a development team industry we developed many of the components of software that are available for surgical imaging today.
Our latest efforts have been developing an imaging platform in virtual reality and in augmented reality. Working with UIC Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department, the Division of Plastic Surgery have developed a platform that gives the resident in training the ability to interact with the patient's anatomy.
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How we use oculus...
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As a resident at UIC, you have the opportunity to use VR for pre-operative planning. For instance, we use VR a lot in our maxillofacial trauma cases to reduce the fractured facial bones. The reduced 3D skull is then used to create custom plates for surgery.
We urge you view the video.
Case Diversity and Volume
Given our geographic location in a big city with a diverse patient population and neighboring academic and community hospitals, UIC offers residents a well rounded case load.
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We are in the 97th percentile for total head and neck congenital defects cases, which is largely due to our Craniofacial Center–the oldest multidisciplinary center in the nation.
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We are in the 90th percentile for total head and neck trauma cases, stemming from our coverage at the level 1 trauma center, Mount Sinai.
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We are in the 70th percentile for total hand reconstruction cases, which ranges from tendons transfers (95th percentile) to hand fractures/dislocations (86th percentile).
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Lastly, we are in the 70th percentile for total aesthetic cases. These numbers are only getting larger as we grow as a newly founded integrated plastic surgery program in the city of Chicago
Surgical Innovation and Training Lab [SITL]
The Surgical Innovation Training Lab at UIC facilitates training residents in a wide range of surgical techniques. It is the first facility worldwide to offer robotic surgery training to residents, and we take advantage by attending once a month during PGY1-3 years. The lab also hosts a variety of learning seminars. For instance, we have hosted rhinoplasty workshops with visiting professors using cadavers, as well as craniofacial plating workshops using the latest technology.
We also have access to our own microscope, which is used for learning sessions a few times a year. It’s also available permanently for use at any time for us (PRS residents) to use for training.
Plastic Surgery 3D Printing Lab
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The Division of Plastic Surgery’s Craniofacial Center houses a 3D printing laboratory which dovetails with our Virtual Surgical Planning (VSP) Center and its technology. Residents participate in research projects based on 3D printing and also use products from this lab directly in clinical work (for example 3D printed oral splints and surgical guides). This lab has been utilized for unique projects like printing custom N95 masks. Residents are encouraged to utilize this facility in their efforts to bring their own creative ideas to fruition.
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Frontal Bone Contouring for Facial Feminization
3D Print of CTA
Goldenhar Syndrome
for Vascularized Fibula Transfer
Community
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We can't really put into words how much fun we have simply being around one another, so here is a video of us answering some random questions: