18 source-led programme profiles. Licensing, visa and hands-on eligibility vary by institution and candidate; always confirm with the programme and regulator.
Switzerland coverage
Switzerland coverage distinguishes clinical and research fellowships from observer visits and paid short courses. Swiss patient-care authorization is separate from programme acceptance; observer tracks do not grant operating rights. Current vacancy, language, accommodation, fees or stipend and insurance must be confirmed with each host.
Browse by destination
Training locations in Switzerland
Listed destinations reflect documented opportunities, not every hospital with a plastic surgery department.
Evidence filters describe the available information. Published criteria do not guarantee eligibility, funding or a vacancy; missing information does not mean you are ineligible.
Three-month educational and observational placement at Kantonsspital Winterthur's Department of Hand and Plastic Surgery, selected by the SIM Fellowship Committee from CVs. The fellow joins outpatient clinics, theatre sessions and teaching under the supervisor and keeps a certified logbook; the department reports roughly 70-100 free flaps a year.
Fellowship Supervisor; Senior Consultant (Leitender Arzt), Department of Hand and Plastic SurgeryAlberto Franchi, MD
The group states it is happy to welcome colleagues as visiting fellows in facial and cranial anomalies surgery; past visitors have joined as fellow surgeons or research fellows on funded projects. Short-term research visitors are pointed to current job openings and to AO CMF and IAOMS fellowships for support.
Named in official programme listingAndreas A. Mueller
CraniofacialCleft
Pathway
Hybrid clinical and research
Duration
Individual arrangement; no standard term published
Handzentrum Pratteln integrates diagnostics, surgery, hand therapy and rehabilitation. Training covers hand and reconstructive surgery, peripheral nerve surgery, microsurgery, trauma and hand and wrist joint replacement, with complex cases at partner clinic Merian Iselin in Basel and clinical research on patient-specific treatment and 3D printing.
Fellowship DirectorPhilipp Honigmann, MD
HandMicrosurgeryPeripheral nerve
Pathway
Hybrid clinical and research
Duration
Short visit or scientific placement; term agreed with host
Laclinic, a Montreux clinic, trains young cosmetic surgeons through 3 to 6 month fellowships held under ISAPS auspices. The page states the goals as passing on knowledge, maintaining quality and supporting the clinic's continuity. Since 2003 it has welcomed some 40 practitioners from 26 countries, and several former fellows have become full doctors at the clinic.
HOCH Health Ostschweiz / Kantonsspital St.Gallen offers international fellowship tracks in general plastic surgery, breast surgery and hand surgery. Prospective fellows should have completed a plastic or hand surgery residency in their home country and be fluent in English or German (German preferred). Hand fellows may add an elbow and shoulder fellowship with the Orthopaedic Surgery department.
Chief, Plastic Surgery and Hand SurgeryVolker Schmidt, MD
A 3-6 month clinical fellowship in oncoplastic and reconstructive breast surgery at a high-volume breast cancer centre in Zurich, based at Affidea Plastic Surgery Group and Affidea brustCare. Fellows attend 3-4 operating sessions and 1-2 clinics per week, join ward rounds and tumour boards, and receive a certificate on completion.
Short, flexible aesthetic-surgery training (1 day or 1 week) at Tremp Plastic Surgery in Cham for qualified plastic surgeons. Content covers high-definition body contouring, breast and aesthetic facial surgery, injection techniques and non-invasive skin rejuvenation, combining theory with clinical practice; places are limited.
A 3 to 6 month advanced fellowship in robotic-assisted microsurgery and supermicrosurgery for lymphatic reconstruction, combined with translational lymphatic research (about 60 per cent clinical and 40 per cent research). It runs as a supervised clinical track or an observership track and is unpaid.
Lymphatic surgeryMicrosurgery
Pathway
Hybrid clinical and research
Duration
3 to 6 months (Track A clinical fellow 6 months; Track B observer 3 months)
University Hospitals of Geneva (Hôpital Cantonal) is named in the EURAPS Institutions directory as a host department for the EURAPS Residents Scholarship, a funded one- or three-month study visit for European plastic surgery trainees. The directory gives no programme content of its own, so this is a society-listing entry rather than a published fellowship curriculum.
Complex reconstruction
Pathway
Travelling fellowship
Duration
One or three months (EURAPS Residents Scholarship)
University Hospital Zurich is named in the EURAPS Institutions directory as a host department for the EURAPS Residents Scholarship, a funded one- or three-month study visit for European plastic surgery trainees. The directory gives no programme content of its own, so this is a society-listing entry rather than a published fellowship curriculum.
Complex reconstruction
Pathway
Travelling fellowship
Duration
One or three months (EURAPS Residents Scholarship)
Private-sector hand surgery fellowship listed on the FESSH training-centre directory. Listed focus areas are Dupuytren's disease, wrist instability, arthroscopy, fracture surgery and joint replacement, for surgeons trained in orthopaedic or plastic surgery who plan a full-time hand surgery career.
Named training-centre contact (FESSH host-submitted listing)Konstantinos Vakalopoulos
Bern offers short visits focused on facial trauma and osteosynthesis, plus a longer fellowship combining clinical mentoring with optional facial-bone research. The host’s one-year duration is separate from the shorter periods supported by IBRA scholarships.
Fellowship director (IBRA host listing)Benoit Schaller
CraniofacialComplex reconstruction
Pathway
Hybrid clinical and research
Duration
Host: 1–3 months for a short visit or 1 year for the residential/scientific fellowship
Spital Thurgau's hand surgery service, run across Münsterlingen and Frauenfeld, is listed by FESSH as a training centre offering self-funded observer attachments. FESSH describes it as a public hospital with two sites and more than 8,000 outpatient visits a year.
Chief, Hand and Plastic SurgeryThomas Holzbach, MD
Hand
Pathway
Observership
Duration
Duration not published; confirm with the programme
Kantonsspital St. Gallen's hand, plastic and reconstructive surgery department is an IBRA upper-limb training centre hosting short clinical visits and longer resident/scientific fellowships funded through IBRA scholarships. This IBRA scholarship route is separate from the hospital's own international fellowship.
Fellowship Director (IBRA listing)Dr. med. Martina Greminger
Bern's university clinic for plastic and hand surgery is registered as a FESSH hand surgery training centre offering self-funded observer attachments. Its own training page lists clinical training stays for Swiss and foreign doctors alongside weekly teaching and case conferences.
Chief Physician Hand Surgery and Co-Director Hand Surgery; FESSH contactProf. Esther Vögelin
HandMicrosurgery
Pathway
Observership
Duration
Duration not published; confirm with the programme
The orthopaedically based hand surgery unit at Schulthess Klinik in Zurich is listed by FESSH as a training centre offering self-funded visitations. The department is an SIWF-certified postgraduate training centre.
Hand surgery host / named contactDaniel Herren, MD, MHA
Hand
Pathway
Observership
Duration
Duration not published; confirm with the programme
A certified Swiss training centre in hand and orthopaedic surgery near Lugano, listed by FESSH as offering research and self-funded observer attachments. The centre's own site lists it as a FESSH training centre, an SIWF hand surgery training site and part of the four-canton hand surgery training network.
Named in official programme listingIvan Tami
HandMicrosurgeryPeripheral nerve
Pathway
Observership
Duration
Duration not published; confirm with the programme
USZ's Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery is listed by FESSH as a hand surgery training centre offering research and self-funded observer attachments covering a wide range of hand surgery. This is distinct from the department's robotic lymphatic microsurgery fellowship; the FESSH entry dates from 2012, so availability should be confirmed.
Named training-centre contact (FESSH host-submitted listing)Maurizio Calcagni
Hand
Pathway
Observership
Duration
Duration not published; confirm with the programme
How many plastic surgery fellowships are listed in Switzerland?
PlasticFellow currently lists 18 source-backed programme profiles in Switzerland at 18 institutions in 11 locations. This is a verified-source list, not a census of every hospital offering training.
What types of plastic surgery training are available in Switzerland?
Listed formats: clinical fellowship (3), hybrid clinical and research (5), observership (6), short-term training (2), travelling fellowship (2). The most represented focus areas are hand, microsurgery, complex reconstruction, aesthetic surgery, breast reconstruction. Observerships and short courses do not grant hands-on operating rights.
Can international surgeons apply for fellowships in Switzerland?
Eligibility differs by host. Medical registration, language, visa and supervision rules in Switzerland decide whether a visiting surgeon can operate. Each profile states what the official source publishes; confirm current intake and eligibility directly with the programme before applying.
Deadline passed
Fellowship Supervisor; Senior Consultant (Leitender Arzt), Department of Hand and Plastic SurgeryAlberto Franchi, MD
