Page 18 - Plasticos-Vol-3
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HOW TO APPLY FOR FELLOWSHIPS
Know Thyself
The most common problem with trainees who
have recently passed out is that they do not know
their field of interest, the city where they would
settle and the type of practice they would do.
Knowing this is paramount as this determines
your direction and the fellowships that you
need to do. To know your field of interest, you
need to introspect as to which field would keep
you interested 20 years from now and it is that
field that you need to do. The city and the type
of practice that you would do would determine
the type of patients that you will have. Hence
you may need to do fellowships in the field of
your interest and according to your local need.
Dr Raja Shanmuga Krishnan Go into the Micro-details
Consultant Plastic Surgeon,
Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore
Once you know your field of interest, you
Superspecialities like Plastic surgery are so need to attend conferences, read up on that
vast that three years of residency is just not subspeciality, talk to a lot of people and look
enough to learn all that a trainee needs. out for various opportunities and fellowships
With various sub-specialisations coming coming up. For each fellowship, you must rate
up, one may not be exposed to high quality it based on the surgeon, length of fellowship,
work in a particular field during residency, whether paid, hands-on, named fellowship,
and it is always a pleasure and honour to place of the fellowship, does it require any
work with the doyens in the field of interest. qualifying exams and last but not the least
Hence fellowships become very important. your family support. Now I will go through
Soon after residency, most trainees are each variable in detail. Choosing your mentor
puzzled as to how and where to apply for is the most important life changing decision
fellowships. Having gone through this that you can make in your career as you not
phase and having done fellowships with few only learn the practice of surgery, but also a
stalwarts like breast reconstructive surgeon host of non-medical stuff that you will not
Dr Venkatramakrishnan, burn surgeon Dr get in books which in the end determines the
Naguib El Muttardi, aesthetic surgeon Dr Rod altitude you fly. So choose a good surgeon
Rohrich and working closely with my father with a good volume of work, teaching ability
Dr Raja Sabapathy, a famous hand surgeon, and a good heart. The length of the fellowship
I would like to share my tips for the younger depends on the exposure that you previously
surgeons as to how to apply for fellowships. had in the field. If you do not have much
exposure, you may need a longer time. The
longer you do a fellowship, the more the
experience and always better. Undergoing a
fellowship can be costly especially when done
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