Surgery

Plastic Surgery

Division of Plastic Surgery

Plastic Surgery remains as one of the last whole-body surgical specialties.  We operate on the face, the head and neck, the torso, the breast and abdomen, the upper extremity and the lower extremity.  Our goal is to restore both form and function, giving our patients an aesthetic result that erases the scars left by illness, trauma, and aging.

The UCLA Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery is divided into five subspecialties:

  • Aesthetic Surgery: focuses on elective cosmetic surgery, with an emphasis on the face and breast.  Common procedures include facelift, brow lift, blepharoplasty, breast augmentation, breast lift, and breast reduction.
  • Breast Reconstruction: focuses on post-mastectomy breast reconstruction.  Traditional reconstruction utilizes tissue expanders and breast implants (either silicone or saline) to recreate the appearance of the absent breast.  Microvascular free-flap reconstruction uses tissue harvested from the abdomen or other locations in order to recreate the absent breast.
  • Craniofacial Surgery: focuses on the surgical correction of severe facial deformities, skull abnormalities, facial clefts, and absence of the ear or nose.  UCLA has pioneered a team-approach to the management of craniofacial cases, bringing in specialists from pediatrics, genetics, orthodontics, dentistry, speech pathology, neurosurgery, otolaryngology, oral surgery, otology, psychiatry, ophthalmology, and social work in order to map out a unique, multi-stage treatment plan for each patient.
  • General Reconstruction: focuses on wound healing, scar revision, and the surgical correction of post-traumatic or post-surgical deformities appearing anywhere on the body.
  • Hand Surgery: focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of hand injuries and pathological disorders affecting the hand.  The Hand Service is a joint collaboration between the UCLA Department of Orthopedic Surgery and the Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery.

The division's academic programs are designed to provide medical students and surgical residents with a broad exposure to all facets of plastic surgery.

  • MSIII Clerkship - is a two-week elective for third year medical students that serves as an introduction to the complex management of plastic surgery patients. 
     
  • MSIV Sub-Internship - provides fourth-year medical students with an in-depth exposure to plastic surgery, meant to give students the opportunity to decide whether to pursue a surgical residency in plastic surgery. 

Integrated - Plastic Surgery Residency Program

  • Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Program - is a six-year, ACGME-accredited training program. 
     
    During the first two years of training, residents gain clinical and operative experience in alimentary tract surgery, abdominal surgery, breast surgery, emergency medicine, pediatric surgery, surgical critical care, surgical oncology, transplant, trauma management, and vascular surgery. 

    The final four years of training focus on congenital defects of the head and neck, neoplasms of the head and neck, craniomaxillofacial trauma, aesthetic surgery, breast surgery, surgery of the hand and upper extremity, surgery of the lower extremity, surgery of the trunk and genitalia, burn reconstruction, microsurgery, tissue transfer, and surgical treatment of benign and malignant lesions. 

    Rotations are structured to provide residents with twelve months of chief-level responsibility.

Fellowship Programs

  • The Craniofacial Surgery Fellowship - provides board-eligible plastic surgeons with a high volume experience in the management and surgical correction of facial deformities.
     
  • The Hand Surgery Fellowship - provides a high-volume experience in the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of hand injuries and pathological disorders affecting the hand.
     
  • The Microsurgery Fellowship - provides board-eligible plastic surgeons with a high volume experience in microvascular free-flap breast reconstruction.