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CC BY 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg 2025; 58(06): 403-405
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1814456
Editorial

Residency to Reality

Authors

  • Samreen Jaffar

    1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Aster MIMS, Kasaragod, India

  • Maneesh Singhal

    2   Department of Plastic Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
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Completing residency marks a transition from structured training to independent professional practice. Despite demanding schedules, intense clinical work, and academic expectations, residency provides supervision, direction, and structure. It offers a protected environment in which students develop clinical judgment, procedural skills, and discipline. It shapes the professional identity, and moving beyond it introduces new responsibilities. Independent practice requires self-directed decision-making, planning, and accountability, often without the predefined structure of residency.

We have often reflected on how the Indian plastic surgery training program equips residents for the transition to independent practice, its strengths, and areas for improvement.



Publication History

Article published online:
31 December 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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