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Application guide · Updated

How to compare microsurgery fellowships

Compare microsurgery fellowships by reconstructive case mix, operative responsibility, supervision, research and eligibility before choosing a shortlist.

Define the practice you want to build

Two microsurgery fellowships can share a title and offer substantially different experiences. Begin with the work you hope to undertake after training: breast reconstruction, head and neck reconstruction, extremity salvage, lymphatic surgery, nerve reconstruction or a broad reconstructive service. Select two or three learning priorities and identify which are essential for your next role.

The comparison below is a decision framework, not a ranking of institutions. A programme that serves one applicant well may leave another's main learning need unmet. Record a published fact, its official source and the date checked for every shortlisted programme; keep unanswered questions visible.

Read the case mix behind the fellowship title

Michigan describes breast reconstruction alongside lymphatic, extremity, trunk and head and neck exposure. Pittsburgh describes reconstruction across several anatomical regions, including facial reanimation. These are examples of what to extract from a curriculum, not proof that each fellow receives equal exposure to every area.

Build one row per priority: which service provides it, how often the fellow joins that service, what role the fellow has, and whether follow-up is included. Ask about actual rotations and allocation rather than assuming every case treated by the hospital is available to the fellowship.

Make operative numbers comparable

  • Identify the denominator: cases across the hospital, cases within the fellowship service, or cases recorded by one fellow.
  • Identify the period: a calendar year, an academic year, the most recent cohort or a historical average.
  • Separate observing, assisting, performing selected components and operating with supervision. Ask how the logbook records each role.
  • Check how cases are shared with other fellows, residents and visiting surgeons, and how changes in staffing affect allocation.
  • Include continuity of care: assessment, operative planning, postoperative monitoring, revision work and review of complications.

Compare supervision, service work and protected learning

A detailed timetable helps connect advertised opportunities to available time. Ask for a representative week covering theatre, clinics, ward work, on-call duties, teaching, simulation and research. Establish who supervises each activity and how feedback changes responsibility during the year.

Michigan describes a curriculum with staged progression through operative components and microsurgery simulation. Use that level of detail as a useful question for other hosts: how will the programme establish your starting level, support improvement and document your progress? A teaching role can add value, but it also occupies time that should appear in the schedule.

Resolve entry conditions before comparing offers

Do not assume that a programme listed by a microsurgery society accepts every international applicant. Michigan, for example, specifies completion of accredited plastic surgery training in the United States or Canada. Another institution may use different criteria. Check your own training background against the exact appointment requirements before paying application costs.

For programmes using the ASRM Microsurgery Match, consult the current ASRM and SF Match instructions. For other recruitment routes, follow the individual host. Registration, immigration support, salary, indemnity and leave need separate confirmation in the written appointment information.

Turn the shortlist into a decision

  • Set essential conditions first: eligibility, permitted clinical work, affordable total cost and a feasible start date.
  • For each learning priority, mark evidence as published, confirmed in writing or still unknown; do not score an unknown as a promised benefit.
  • Use interviews to resolve the questions that could change your choice, especially case allocation and supervision.
  • After each discussion, record both what was offered and the conditions attached. Compare those notes with the eventual written terms before committing.

Questions to take to the programme

  • Which reconstructive services would I rotate through, and how is my case allocation decided?
  • Do the published case numbers describe the service or an individual fellow's operative role?
  • How are supervision and responsibility adjusted during the year?
  • What would prevent someone with my training background from taking up this appointment?

Official sources and scope

Sources checked on 14 October 2026. Institutional examples apply to their own programmes; requirements can change. These guides support educational decisions and do not determine an individual's regulatory or immigration eligibility.