Message from
Joshua Fosnot, MD - Program Director
Penn Plastic Surgery is committed to providing exposure to the entire spectrum of plastic surgery including microsurgery, craniofacial, extremity, cosmetic surgery and wound care. The experience will run from head to toe, from bread and butter to the cutting edge. Penn will provide the clinical exposure you will need to succeed in any area of plastic surgery in your career and provide you the foundation to hopefully take our field further in the future. The clinical exposure will be augmented by a robust didactic curriculum to round out your education, taught by world experts in their respective fields. Lastly, we are committed to providing this experience in a collegial and diverse atmosphere to promote well-being and lifelong relationships.
Joshua Fosnot, MD
Program Director, Plastic Surgery Residency
Assistant Professor of Surgery
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Penn has been at the forefront of plastic surgery resident education and was one of the first programs in the nation to accept medical students for plastic surgery training. The Integrated Residency is a six-year program with three positions annually for graduating medical students. The Independent Residency is a three year program with one position annually for those who have completed a five year ACGME approved general surgery residency. The goal of residency training at Penn is to provide comprehensive training in plastic surgery with a high clinical volume to prepare our graduates to succeed in either academic or private practice. Residents of both programs complete all of their training under the guidance of the plastic surgery program director, Dr. Joshua Fosnot. Although Penn also has fellowships in craniofacial surgery and microsurgery, priority is given to resident education. The fellows augment the residency program by teaching residents, sharing emergency call, and offloading cases in areas with an overabundance of cases.
We are proud to say that at our last evaluation by the Residency Review Committee (RRC) in the Winter of 2019, both our programs were accredited without any citations.
Plastic surgery history
When World War I ended in 1918, Plastic Surgery was a little known surgical specialty. Besides a few physicians who treated soldiers suffering from battlefield wounds and burns, and a few surgeons in Europe who performed cosmetic procedures, plastic surgeons were a small number.
Shortly after the war, Dr. Robert H. Ivy began a plastic surgery practice and a training program in plastic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. At that time, Dr. Ivy was one of the best known and revered plastic surgeons in the United States. He restricted his practice to plastic surgery, and perhaps was the first in the country to do so.
He worked mainly at the Graduate Hospital, then home of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Medicine, and at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Presbyterian Hospital, affiliates of the University Medical School. With his unique appointment as Professor of Plastic Surgery, he was able to begin Penn’s first preceptorship training program.
During World War II, plastic surgery was developing as a specialty because of the reconstructive surgery performed for injured and burned soldiers. Dr. Henry P. Royster served in India and Burma with the University of Pennsylvania Base Hospital. When he returned to Philadelphia, he was appointed Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. With Dr. Ivy still practicing at Graduate Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital, plastic surgery was becoming a presence in Philadelphia medicine.
In 1953, Dr. Peter Randall joined Dr. Royster, and together they constructed a new plastic surgery residency training program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 1957, its first year, the program trained only one resident in the two-year program.
In 1969, Dr. Herndon B. Lehr, the very first plastic surgery resident, became Chief of the Division, and was followed in 1979 by Dr. Peter Randall. Eight years later, in 1987, Dr. Linton A. Whitaker took the helm. As early as 1975, Dr. Whitaker, as one of the few plastic surgeons in the United States specializing in the developing field of craniofacial surgery, instituted a Fellowship in Craniofacial Surgery. This program was followed by a Craniofacial Research Fellowship in 1997. Dr. Whitaker remains actively involved in the Division and is the Director of the Center for Human Appearance.
In 2005, Dr. Joseph M. Serletti, an internationally renowned microsurgeon, was recruited to lead the Division. Under his guidance, the plastic surgery program at Penn has reached new heights. Now the premier institution in the nation for autologous breast reconstruction, Penn has become a national and international name in the field of microsurgery. A microsurgery fellowship program was introduced in 2006, and is considered one of the best in the nation. Meanwhile, our program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia continues to build on a long history of excellence in pediatric and craniofacial plastic surgery.
One hundred thirty-one plastic surgery residents have completed the residency training program since 1957, over twenty of whom are, or have been, a chief or program director of a plastic surgery program. Forty-three fellows have completed the craniofacial fellowship, fifteen of whom run, or have run, craniofacial programs. Sixteen fellows have completed the microsurgery fellowship.
At present, there are twelve full time plastic surgeons practicing at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, fifteen plastic surgery residents, three microsurgery fellows, and one craniofacial fellow.
Policies, procedures and clinical sites
A comprehensive guide to the policies and procedures for the Department of Surgery education programs. View all of the Housestaff polices and procedures.
Penn Medicine has seven clinical sites, to learn more, visit our clinical sites page.
The University of Pennsylvania values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national or ethnic origins, age disability or status as disabled or Vietnam Era veteran in the administration of its educational policies, programs, or activities, admissions policies and procedures, scholarship and loan programs, employments, recreational athletic or other University administered programs. Questions or concerns regarding the University's equal opportunity and affirmative action programs and activities or accommodations for people with disabilities should be directed to the Director of Affirmative Action, 1133 Blockley Hall, 418 Service Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6021 or 215-898-6693 (Voice) or 215-898-7803 (TTD).