ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Visiting Educational Scholarship Training Program at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine: A Global Opportunity to Learn Nicholas Galardi, MD, Matthew Ciminero Seth Thaller, MD, FACS, and Christopher Salgado, MD Abstract: The Visiting Educational Scholarship Training Program, started by the University of Miami’s Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, was designed to uphold the institution’s founding mission: the education of our future medical leaders as well as the promotion of health of our local, regional, national, and international communities. It offers the opportunity for international medical students and training physicians to be educated and get exposure to the field of plastic surgery in a United States training institution. Key Words: VEST program, University of Miami plastic surgery, international plastic surgery training programs (J Craniofac Surg 2015;26: 1048–1049)
A
t the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, we continuously strive to uphold the institution’s founding mission: the education of our future medical leaders as well as the promotion of health of our local, regional, national, and international communities. Miami has always been characterized by its international diversity. The UHealth system takes pride in providing health care to an ever-expanding multicultural population. After New Jersey and New York, Florida ranks third in the country in highest concentration of international medical graduates in their health system (37% of physicians). Over the past decade, there has been a steady rise in the number of international students who pursue higher education in the United States. Unfortunately, matriculation of international students in US medical schools has not mirrored this rising trend in other undergraduate and graduate programs owing to a variety of obstacles and logistical issues, including standards of admission and postgraduate visa requirements.1 Ultimately, this further complicates an already arduous road for any medical professional to get placement in a US residency program. Nonetheless, the number of international students and physicians working in the United States has risen. In our opinion, we believe that, as a leading academic institution, we should provide educational opportunities for these individuals in the field of medicine. To assist these individuals, we established the Visiting Educational Scholarship Training (VEST) program. This includes From the Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL. Received October 16, 2014. Accepted for publication January 23, 2015. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Nicholas Galardi, MD, Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Miami, 1120 NW 14th St, #410, Miami, FL 33136; E-mail: [email protected] The authors report no conflict of interest. Copyright # 2015 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD ISSN: 1049-2275 DOI: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000001624
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practicing surgeons and medical students interested in learning plastic surgery. This experience at a highly competitive and innovative medical program hopefully might improve the competitiveness of international medical students’ residency applications. In addition, practicing physicians will learn skills that will help improve care in their home countries. Our goal is to encourage medical students and other physicians from around the world to apply to our VEST program and get exposure to the field of plastic surgery at our training program. In addition, we hope other institutions might consider initiating similar formal educational programs. This is an extremely popular program offered by the Division of Plastic Surgery, which has been under the stable leadership of Dr Seth Thaller, Chief of the Division of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery. Our program offers graduate physicians, medical students, or select allied health care professionals the opportunity to study and learn with the plastic surgery faculty at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.2 Our training program provides various levels of participation from medical students, residents in training, and allied professionals, to practicing plastic surgeons. Our program has a great deal of flexibility to meet the participants’ schedules and interests. The VEST program can last for a period of 1 month to 3 months. There is also an option for those who want to commit to a year of doing clinical or basic science research. During the observership, the medical trainee/physician will commonly rotate with the full plastic surgery team or they have the option of concentrating their time with one of the attending surgeons with their subspecialty. Applicants will be exposed to the following training opportunities:
Clinical evaluations of common and unique plastic surgery entities during the observations and shadowing in clinics Observations of a wide variety of aesthetic and reconstructive surgical procedures in the operating room as both inpatients and outpatients Divisional educational activities, that is, didactic lectures, Grand Rounds, Journal Clubs, research meetings, Miami Dade Plastic Surgeons meetings, and others Opportunity to participate in faculty-mentored clinical research with potential for peer review publication and presentation Each applicant is also asked to give the service a presentation on what they have learned or plastic surgery in their home country to educate their hosts and to better integrate them into our team.
This program is solely an observational tutorial program. Our institution does not permit any direct ‘‘hands on’’ patient contact. Still, the potential benefits to visiting professionals can be substantial. Our hope is that this would speed up the implementation of some of our procedures for patients in many other countries. Regarding the financial structure for the VEST program, expenses such as program fees, travel, and housing expenses are paid by the physician or student applicant with discounted rates for the housing available. Interested applicants are required to submit
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
Volume 26, Number 4, June 2015
Copyright © 2015 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
Volume 26, Number 4, June 2015
several supporting documents such as visa, passport, proof of medical insurance, as well as current curriculum vitae and letters of reference from their current institution. The previously mentioned credentials are then reviewed and confirmed by the University of Miami plastic surgery staff to determine whether the applicant will be accepted into the program. A detailed information packet including several forms requiring completion is then sent to the applicants once their interest in the program has been confirmed. The VEST program provides tremendous value to the international medical community. Some of the most innovative and technologically advanced plastic surgeries have been conducted at the University of Miami by a diverse group of technically skilled and creative surgeons from around the world. Observership with these renowned physicians allows international students and physicians to learn about specialties ranging from breast reconstruction, craniofacial reconstruction in trauma and cosmetics, hand and upper extremity repair, to transgender reassignment, skin cancer treatment, as well as skin grafts and flap surgeries. Many of these surgeries are not readily available in these physicians’ home countries. Exposure to many of these surgeries through programs such as VEST would spread some of these skills to other countries. In addition to sharing our programs with these visiting surgeons and students, our faculty and students will get cross-cultural exposure to what is happening in plastic surgery in the countries from which our professionals are visiting. Historically, plastic surgeons have established many of the technical procedures and approaches used in diverse surgical specialties such as burn surgery, modern hand surgery, as well as head and neck microsurgical reconstruction. It is part of our mission to continue to educate and share our surgical specialty with different
#
2015 Mutaz B. Habal, MD
VEST at the University of Miami
populations as well as to transmit this expertise to those without the same access to these technologies. Paralleling the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine’s mission to educate our future leaders, it is a goal of the Division of Plastic Surgery to continue to innovate and encourage the future plastic surgeons, especially those from other countries who do not have the same training opportunities. As a research institution, it is important that we assess the effectiveness of the program across a multitude of variables. Follow-up with the students and physicians who were involved in the program after fixed periods of time would provide helpful information about the utility of VEST or similar programs. It would be valuable to evaluate how much of an impact the observership had on their training in their home countries, for instance, whether any of the techniques used here were translated into practice in foreign countries, whether there was an increased likelihood of the students to match at a residency in the United States or physicians to acquire jobs in the United States, as well as whether all of these factors varied depending on how long the observership lasted. There is great potential in the VEST program. Our Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of Miami looks forward to working with applicants and enhancing their overall experience through interactive feedback.
REFERENCES 1. Jashodeep Datta, Bonnie M. Miller. International students in United States’ medical schools: does the medical community know they exist? Med Educ Online 2012:17. 2. Department of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery. Vest Training Program for Physicians at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. September 28, 2014.
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Copyright © 2015 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
Visiting Educational Scholarship Training Program at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine: A Global Opportunity to Learn Nicholas Galardi, MD, Matthew Ciminero Seth Thaller, MD, FACS, and Christopher Salgado, MD Abstract: The Visiting Educational Scholarship Training Program, started by the University of Miami’s Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, was designed to uphold the institution’s founding mission: the education of our future medical leaders as well as the promotion of health of our local, regional, national, and international communities. It offers the opportunity for international medical students and training physicians to be educated and get exposure to the field of plastic surgery in a United States training institution. Key Words: VEST program, University of Miami plastic surgery, international plastic surgery training programs (J Craniofac Surg 2015;26: 1048–1049)
A
t the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, we continuously strive to uphold the institution’s founding mission: the education of our future medical leaders as well as the promotion of health of our local, regional, national, and international communities. Miami has always been characterized by its international diversity. The UHealth system takes pride in providing health care to an ever-expanding multicultural population. After New Jersey and New York, Florida ranks third in the country in highest concentration of international medical graduates in their health system (37% of physicians). Over the past decade, there has been a steady rise in the number of international students who pursue higher education in the United States. Unfortunately, matriculation of international students in US medical schools has not mirrored this rising trend in other undergraduate and graduate programs owing to a variety of obstacles and logistical issues, including standards of admission and postgraduate visa requirements.1 Ultimately, this further complicates an already arduous road for any medical professional to get placement in a US residency program. Nonetheless, the number of international students and physicians working in the United States has risen. In our opinion, we believe that, as a leading academic institution, we should provide educational opportunities for these individuals in the field of medicine. To assist these individuals, we established the Visiting Educational Scholarship Training (VEST) program. This includes From the Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL. Received October 16, 2014. Accepted for publication January 23, 2015. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Nicholas Galardi, MD, Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Miami, 1120 NW 14th St, #410, Miami, FL 33136; E-mail: [email protected] The authors report no conflict of interest. Copyright # 2015 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD ISSN: 1049-2275 DOI: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000001624
1048
practicing surgeons and medical students interested in learning plastic surgery. This experience at a highly competitive and innovative medical program hopefully might improve the competitiveness of international medical students’ residency applications. In addition, practicing physicians will learn skills that will help improve care in their home countries. Our goal is to encourage medical students and other physicians from around the world to apply to our VEST program and get exposure to the field of plastic surgery at our training program. In addition, we hope other institutions might consider initiating similar formal educational programs. This is an extremely popular program offered by the Division of Plastic Surgery, which has been under the stable leadership of Dr Seth Thaller, Chief of the Division of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery. Our program offers graduate physicians, medical students, or select allied health care professionals the opportunity to study and learn with the plastic surgery faculty at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.2 Our training program provides various levels of participation from medical students, residents in training, and allied professionals, to practicing plastic surgeons. Our program has a great deal of flexibility to meet the participants’ schedules and interests. The VEST program can last for a period of 1 month to 3 months. There is also an option for those who want to commit to a year of doing clinical or basic science research. During the observership, the medical trainee/physician will commonly rotate with the full plastic surgery team or they have the option of concentrating their time with one of the attending surgeons with their subspecialty. Applicants will be exposed to the following training opportunities:
Clinical evaluations of common and unique plastic surgery entities during the observations and shadowing in clinics Observations of a wide variety of aesthetic and reconstructive surgical procedures in the operating room as both inpatients and outpatients Divisional educational activities, that is, didactic lectures, Grand Rounds, Journal Clubs, research meetings, Miami Dade Plastic Surgeons meetings, and others Opportunity to participate in faculty-mentored clinical research with potential for peer review publication and presentation Each applicant is also asked to give the service a presentation on what they have learned or plastic surgery in their home country to educate their hosts and to better integrate them into our team.
This program is solely an observational tutorial program. Our institution does not permit any direct ‘‘hands on’’ patient contact. Still, the potential benefits to visiting professionals can be substantial. Our hope is that this would speed up the implementation of some of our procedures for patients in many other countries. Regarding the financial structure for the VEST program, expenses such as program fees, travel, and housing expenses are paid by the physician or student applicant with discounted rates for the housing available. Interested applicants are required to submit
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
Volume 26, Number 4, June 2015
Copyright © 2015 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
Volume 26, Number 4, June 2015
several supporting documents such as visa, passport, proof of medical insurance, as well as current curriculum vitae and letters of reference from their current institution. The previously mentioned credentials are then reviewed and confirmed by the University of Miami plastic surgery staff to determine whether the applicant will be accepted into the program. A detailed information packet including several forms requiring completion is then sent to the applicants once their interest in the program has been confirmed. The VEST program provides tremendous value to the international medical community. Some of the most innovative and technologically advanced plastic surgeries have been conducted at the University of Miami by a diverse group of technically skilled and creative surgeons from around the world. Observership with these renowned physicians allows international students and physicians to learn about specialties ranging from breast reconstruction, craniofacial reconstruction in trauma and cosmetics, hand and upper extremity repair, to transgender reassignment, skin cancer treatment, as well as skin grafts and flap surgeries. Many of these surgeries are not readily available in these physicians’ home countries. Exposure to many of these surgeries through programs such as VEST would spread some of these skills to other countries. In addition to sharing our programs with these visiting surgeons and students, our faculty and students will get cross-cultural exposure to what is happening in plastic surgery in the countries from which our professionals are visiting. Historically, plastic surgeons have established many of the technical procedures and approaches used in diverse surgical specialties such as burn surgery, modern hand surgery, as well as head and neck microsurgical reconstruction. It is part of our mission to continue to educate and share our surgical specialty with different
#
2015 Mutaz B. Habal, MD
VEST at the University of Miami
populations as well as to transmit this expertise to those without the same access to these technologies. Paralleling the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine’s mission to educate our future leaders, it is a goal of the Division of Plastic Surgery to continue to innovate and encourage the future plastic surgeons, especially those from other countries who do not have the same training opportunities. As a research institution, it is important that we assess the effectiveness of the program across a multitude of variables. Follow-up with the students and physicians who were involved in the program after fixed periods of time would provide helpful information about the utility of VEST or similar programs. It would be valuable to evaluate how much of an impact the observership had on their training in their home countries, for instance, whether any of the techniques used here were translated into practice in foreign countries, whether there was an increased likelihood of the students to match at a residency in the United States or physicians to acquire jobs in the United States, as well as whether all of these factors varied depending on how long the observership lasted. There is great potential in the VEST program. Our Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of Miami looks forward to working with applicants and enhancing their overall experience through interactive feedback.
REFERENCES 1. Jashodeep Datta, Bonnie M. Miller. International students in United States’ medical schools: does the medical community know they exist? Med Educ Online 2012:17. 2. Department of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery. Vest Training Program for Physicians at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. September 28, 2014.
1049
Copyright © 2015 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
