Virtual interviewing has us in uncharted territory. Many plastic surgery programs have raised concerns about unequal and inefficient distribution of interviews, e.g.-all the programs are chasing the same top applicants potentially leaving many very good candidates without interviews. This phenomenon is not limited to plastic surgery. Please read the AAMC's letter and adjust your interview strategy as needed. We cannot change student behavior, but we can consciously decide to add interview slots for those applicants that may be more likely to match to our institution. In the end, all the plastic surgery positions will be filled (more of us than usual may be SOAPing up this year) and many very good candidates will not match into a plastic surgery position (just like every year). Keep up the good work!

To the membership of ACAPS - colleagues:

It has been encouraging to hear the reports of Plastic Surgery programs across the country responding so vigorously to the challenges of COVID; residents and staff serving on the front lines as needed, outside of our comfort zone, putting patient care first, and at the same time doing everything possible to maintain resident and staff safety and wellbeing. Well done!

Congratulations are also in order for your quick, flexible, adaptive responses to the prohibition of both visiting student rotations and in-person residency interviews. You have moved to the virtual world rapidly and creatively. The students have been very grateful for the cooperation you have maintained that has made ACAPS the reliable, authoritative source for information and guidance for students interested in a career in plastic surgery. The way all programs have worked together to make ACAPS a trusted safe zone for questions and answers is an unqualified... Read More

Purpose:
The 2020-2021 residency recruitment season will be a departure from previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic-driven prohibition on away rotations for most students and the fact that the vast majority of recruiting will need to be done virtually. This has raised a number of important questions about how the upcoming virtual interview season will be conducted. This document outlines ACAPS’s guidance regarding virtual interviews. Our goal is to encourage an environment that is as fair to all programs and applicants as possible and minimize pressure on students.

ACAPS Winter Meeting
February 27 & 28, 2021
To be held virtually

The American Council of Academic Plastic Surgeons (ACAPS) is composed of the program directors / chairpersons and associates of American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approved plastic surgery residency programs in the United States. Its goal is to provide leadership and support for educational programs for plastic surgery residents. The curriculum for resident educational programs in the US has been derived from the efforts of members of this association.

ASPS has developed a free listing service to simplify the listing and search for all types of fellowship and training opportunities within the specialty. The goal of this initiative is to provide plastic surgeons and plastic-surgeons-in-training with a searchable database of plastic surgery fellowships, observerships and internships/externship available in the United States and throughout the world.

You are invited to post your fellowships, internships and other post-graduate plastic surgery training opportunities in the new Plastic Surgery Fellowship and Training Opportunities Directory.

ASPS believes this directory will help publicize existing opportunities and provide a broad ranging listing for residents and all plastic surgeons who are seeking additional training. The listings are free to post and free to search for everyone. The directory will be searchable by sub-specialty, duration, country and/or region, paid or unpaid, and more. The Plastic Surgery Fellowship and Training Opportunities Directory is open to private plastic surgeons, institutions, and training directors to post their short and long-term training options.

Dear Members of ACAPS:

Thank you for the participation of the surgical specialty in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery in the American College of Surgeon’s Academy of Master Surgeon Educators’ study to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education of surgeons in all surgical specialties. We are pleased to announce that the study, "Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Surgical Training and Learner Well-Being: Report of a Survey of General Surgery and Other Surgical Specialty Educators," has been published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS). View article.

In addition to the article, Dr. Chris Ellison, chair of the Survey Subcommittee summarized some of the results by specialty, which can be found by clicking the links included. We invite you and the members of your specialty group to review the article and informal summary of results by specialty. This may help in identifying specialty-specific opportunities to address future concerns for education and learner well-being that may occur during a future surge of COVID-19 or a similar national crisis.

For your convenience, we have attached the following for your review:

• The survey data results of your specialty group
• Summary of a specialty group comparison by Dr. E. Christopher Ellison, Chair, Surveys Subcommittee
• The pdf of the published manuscript

The participation of your colleagues in plastic & reconstructive surgery has provided critical data for our understanding of the impact of the pandemic on surgical education. We thank you for your invaluable assistance in the support and distribution of this survey. We welcome your feedback about the results of this study, as well as any questions you may have.

Sincerely,

L.D. Britt, MD, MPH, DSc(Hon), FACS, FCCM, FRCSEng(Hon), FRCSEd(Hon), FWACS(Hon), FRCSI(Hon), FCS(SA)(Hon), FRCS(Glasg)(Hon) Co-Chair, Special Committee of the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators to Address Challenges and Opportunities Relating to Surgery Residency Training during the COVID-19 Pandemic Co-Chair, Steering Committee ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators Past President American College of Surgeons

Ajit K. Sachdeva, MD, FACS, FRCSC, FSACME Co-Chair, Special Committee of the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators to Address Challenges and Opportunities Relating to Surgery Residency Training during the COVID-19 Pandemic Co-Chair, Steering Committee ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators Director, Division of Education American College of Surgeons