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You can use this page to email Hannah Korah, Noah Weaver, Samantha Maasarani, Michael Galvez, and Sharon Stanley, MD about Orphan Applicants in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery: Pathways & Opportunities.
About the Book
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (PRS) is one of the most competitive surgery specialty fields that requires strong mentorship and research to have a chance at matching into this field. Plastic Surgery orphans (PSO), or medical students without a home PRS residency program, have innate disadvantages in the application process which will be outlined in this book. Although these students have grit, they are more likely to have challenges in obtaining mentorship, building a knowledge base, learning the culture of the specialty, and developing relationships with Plastic Surgery residents and attendings which are critical to the growth, development, and connections to be a successful PRS applicant. In this book we outline the real challenges of applying into PRS and a strategy that PSO applicants can take to better prepare themselves.
About the Authors
Hannah is an MD/PhD student at the University of Arizona-Tucson who joined the program in 2020. In 2018, she graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Cell Science with a minor in Bioinformatics. After graduation, Hannah dedicated 2 years at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-NIDA branch to research novel therapeutic treatments for opioid addiction in a behavioral animal model. She completed her PhD in Medical Pharmacology in 2024.
Second Year Medical Student at University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson
Michael Galvez, M.D. is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon with specialized training in pediatric hand surgery. Dr. Galvez went to Diablo Valley College for community college and then received his undergraduate degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of California at Berkeley. He earned his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine in 2011. Dr. Galvez completed his residency in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University in 2017. He completed additional fellowships in 2018 in combined hand and microvascular surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle and in pediatric upper extremity surgery at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Texas. He is the Director of Pediatric Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery at Valley Children's Hospital in Madera, California. He values the importance of mentorship and founded the National Latino Physician Day, celebrated on October 1st.
