Program Overview
Plastic Surgery Education
The Division of Plastic Surgery at Loyola Medicine is committed to high quality education in an environment that considers the multiple dimensions of a first-rate educational experience: academic, clinical, ethical, moral and personal growth.
Residency
Loyola has been training surgeons to excel in plastic surgery since Orion Stuteville, DDS, MD, created the Independent Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery program in 1971. Dr. Juan Angelats, one of the first graduates from the independent plastic and reconstructive surgery residency at Loyola, remained on as faculty for 40 years and contributed immensely to the education and mentorship of his trainees throughout their careers.
Together with Dr. Raymond Warphea, who became Chairman of the Division in 1975 until his retirement in 2000, Dr. Angelats and Dr. Sidney Blair created a combined hand service between the Division of Plastic Surgery and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. At the time, the team was one of the only institutions in Chicago to perform upper extremity replantations, and the combined hand service still exists today. Dr. Vandevender joined the faculty in 1995, followed by Dr. Cimino in 2003. Dr. Cimino served as the Program Director and Division Chief until 2020, until moving to private practice.
Dr. Sonya Agnew, who joined the faculty in 2015, took the role of Program Director in 2020 until 2023 and now has started a new role of Division Director for Hand Surgery and will also stay on as Associate Program Director for Plastic and Reconstructive Sugery. Dr. Joseph Ogrodnik joined in 2018 and now has been promoted to Program Director in 2023 after serving a year as Associate Program Director. Dr. Eleanor Bucholz in started in 2019 and took the role of Associate Clerkship Director for the Medical School in 2022. Dr. Timothy King started as Division Chief in 2021 rounding out our excellent team. Come the fall of 2023, Dr. Katie Grunzweig will be joining our team as well.
The program has excelled in maxillofacial trauma, burn reconstruction, autogenous and alloplastic breast reconstruction, truncal reconstruction, cosmetic surgery and upper extremity surgery. With the introduction of our Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency in 2015, our independent residency was phased out in July of 2020. The Department and its affiliates offer an exceptional training program in all areas of plastic and reconstructive surgery and extraordinary opportunities for clinical research.
Our major clinical focus includes oncoplastic reconstruction, maxillofacial trauma, hand and extremity trauma, limb salvage, and body contouring and facial cosmetic surgery. Our residents also rotate at the Shriners Hospital and Lurie Children’s hospital.
Events over the last decade have changed the specialty of plastic surgery and these changes have created the need for new approaches to maintaining the competence of practicing plastic surgeons and educating future plastic surgeons. Responsive to these changes, the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is continuously making modifications and expansions in the curriculum.
Major areas of teaching include:
- Increasing knowledge that fosters ever greater sub-specialization within craniofacial, breast,
cosmetic, post-oncologic and post-traumatic reconstructive, hand and upper extremity surgeries
- New technology (advanced microvascular and lymphatic reconstruction, state of the art laser
therapy)
- Focus on strategies for quality and outcomes improvement and surgical risk reduction
Program Research
Areas of investigation and studies currently underway within the Division of Plastic Surgery include:
- Oncoplastic breast outcomes
- Socioeconomic disparities in limb salvage and maxillofacial trauma
- Implementation of EMR protocols to increase compliance with perioperative QI measures
- Perioperative medication safety in oculoplastic surgery
- Corneal neurotization
- Diagnostic imaging of pressure sores
Thank you for your interest in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Loyola. At this time, we are not accepting Medical Student Research Rotations.
