ABSTRACT
Microsurgical techniques are considered to be an important part of the armamentarium
of plastic surgeons. In fact, the fields of breast reconstruction, head and neck reconstruction,
and hand surgery have been greatly expanded by the widespread use of reliable, consistent,
and safe microsurgical techniques. The teaching of such techniques begins during plastic
surgery residencies in the United States and much of Europe, but the refinement of
microsurgical skills occurs in fellowship training as well as in early plastic surgical
practice. The surgical educator charged with the task of teaching microsurgery must
take into account the education and experience level of the trainee; the type of setting
in which this training is taking place, which affects available resources; the anticipated
use of the training; and medical economic conditions. Teaching microsurgery to a trainee
at the fellowship level in a tertiary care setting with abundant resources is different
from teaching a general plastic surgeon in the developing world. This review elaborates
the issues relating to teaching microsurgery both in the controlled, resource-rich
setting of an academic medical center in the United States and in the developing world.
Many concerns are similar regardless of who is taught and where the teaching occurs,
but the differences in location, and previous training, and resources substantially
alter the focus of surgical education in the two settings.
KEYWORDS
Microsurgery - fellowship - training - Interplast
