The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Integrated Residency Program trains medical school graduates to become expert physicians, skilled plastic surgeons, and leaders in health care.
Plastic surgery offers a unique variety of diverse and stimulating sub-specialties, including burn surgery, cleft and craniofacial plastic surgery, pediatric plastic surgery, wound healing, aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery, hand surgery, reconstruction after trauma or oncologic resection, aesthetic surgery of the face and body, oculoplastic surgery and microsurgery.
We offer an integrated plastic surgery training program with a schedule of rotations designed to maximize the resident learning experience.Residents gain experience in all plastic surgery sub-specialtiesthroughtrainingat VCU Medical Center, Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, as well as several community hospitals and clinics in the greater Richmond area.Fully accredited, we accept two new residents a year. How to apply
VCU Plastic Surgery Residents on IG
Message from the Program Director
"The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Division's Integrated Residency Program is looking for people who have a sincere passion for plastic surgery as well as for serving others. Unique among the surgical disciplines, we do not define ourselves by an organ system but rather by a set of tools effectively applied to meet the individualized needs of each patient. We care for the whole person, helping people to look, feel, and function at their very best."
Tae Chong, MD
Program Director
"On match day before we opened our letters, the dean of student affairs told me and my fellow students 'the right program finds you.' Seven years later, I couldn't agree more.”
"VCU’s Integrated Plastics program gave me a great foundation of surgical knowledge and skill in a supportive and welcoming environment. During training you experience a broad variety of challenging cases, from head to toe, young and old for reconstruction or aesthetic enhancement. Being in a city that is situated off a major highway but within miles of rural farmland, the patient population is equally diverse. I felt fully prepared upon graduating, and confident in the training I received.
Outside the hospital, living in Richmond is an easy, yet exciting place to live with an abundance of outdoor activities, breweries, and festivals. There is something for everyone and I hope you consider a visit!" Meet our Residents
Lauren Nigro, MD, HS '19
PRS ProgramGraduate
Our program exposes you to a wide variety of cases and consults, allowing for a rich and educational experience within the full scope of plastic and reconstructive surgery specialties.
As residentsadvance in surgical experiencetheyare expected to develop their teachingskills and supervise at least one surgical intern and two-to-three medical students during each monthly rotation.
Senior residents are expected to lead and manage teams in addition to providing educational opportunities, guiding junior residents and rotating interns while on clinical duty, and during operative cases whilementoring on the principles of plastic surgery.
Residents are either on the plastic surgery service or on a service outside of plastic surgery at the direction of the Program Director. Outside rotations include anesthesia, dermatology, breast imaging, upper extremity orthopedics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, otolaryngology, vascular surgery and surgical oncology.
Hospitals
Rotations are dedicated to hand surgery, burn surgery, craniofacial/pediatric plastic surgery, cosmetic and general reconstructive procedures.
VCU’s main downtown campus is the region’s largest Level 1 tertiary care hospital, with over 800 beds and 4,500 trauma activations per year. The main hospital includes over 35 state-of-the-art main operating rooms and six outpatient operating rooms. A newly constructed critical care tower houses the 28-bed Surgical Trauma ICU, 8-bed Burn ICU, and a 15-bed Cardiac Surgery ICU, all of which surgery residents rotate through. The main campus also includes a new 16-story outpatient pavilion that was opened in 2021. Residents spend time at the downtown campus during every year of training. They are exposed to the full gamut of tertiary adult plastic and reconstructive surgery. Residents work alongside attending physicians in the outpatient clinics, emergency room, and inpatient setting. Operative experience includes both the ambulatory surgical center as well as main operating room.
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Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU (CHoR) opened in 2023 and is Central Virginia's only comprehensive, full-service hospital dedicated to the care of children. CHoR offers a wide range of children's health services, including pediatric emergency services, primary care, specialty and sub-specialty care, burn, trauma, transplant and long-term care. Since the opening of the hospital, residents spend their Pediatric/Craniofacial rotation at CHoR, which is located across the street from the main hospital and connected via a bridge.
The Richmond VA Medical Center is a 349-bed tertiary medical center located approximately 10 minutes from the main VCU hospital campus. Residents will spend multiple rotations at this location throughout their PGY1-3 years including plastic surgery, general surgery, vascular surgery, orthopedic surgery, anesthesiology, and dermatology.
Residents gain a broad exposure to the field of hand surgery by training with hand surgeons from both plastic and orthopedic backgrounds. Our housestaff see and treat the full breadth of hand and wrist pathology from microvascular and flap reconstruction, treatment of carpal and distal radius and ulna fractures, brachial plexus injuries including nerve, tendon and free functional muscle transfer.We also treat congenital hand disorders such as syndactyly, cleft hand, thumb duplication and hypoplasia. Our residents gain exposure through the Veterans Affairs and VCU hospital systems as well as in community based offices.
In order to provide a robust aesthetic experience for our residents, we have established working relationships with many community plastic surgeons. Residents will rotate in the community during their PGY3-6 years in both their clinics and local hospitals.
Research
Our Division has been actively involved in wound healing research for more than 30 years. All of our residents actively participate in research projects ranging from quality improvement studies to basic science to clinical studies in Plastic Surgery. Areas of interest include enhanced recovery, breast reconstruction, hand trauma, pediatric plastic surgery, and microsurgery. These projects are coordinated by our Director of Clinical Research, Paschalia Mountziaris, MD, PhD, and Lesley Coots, DNP, APRN-BC.
Conferences and Educational Activities
Residents have protected conference time every Monday and Thursday morning. We cover a wide range of plastic surgery topics to ensure residents build the necessary knowledge base to perform well on the annual in-service exam and on the plastic surgery boards.
Conferences are a mix of faculty lectures, M&M, research rounds, mock orals and microlabs. Other educational activities include visiting professors, cadaver labs, journal clubs, and more.
PGY1 residents are sent annually to the ACAPS/ASPS Plastic Surgery Boot Camp and Chief residents are sent to the Plastic Surgery the Meeting Senior Residents Conference.
Through a partnership with World Pediatric Project, all residents will have an opportunity to accompany core faculty to the island of St Vincent in the Eastern Caribbean for exposure to the practice of plastic surgery in a low-resource setting.
Patients travel from eight different island nations for evaluation and may receive pediatric plastic surgery services at Milton Cato Hospital. Resident are also involved in the care of international patients with a variety of complex craniofacial needs who travel to Richmond for expert services. Interested plastic surgery residents may earn a global clinical scholar distinction.
Global Surgery
Graduate Medical Education
Resident candidates submit their applications through the Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS) or the Plastic Surgery Common Application (PSCA). Applications must be submitted by October 15. We participate in the NRMP match and accept two new residents each year.
The PSCA is an ACAPS-supported, low-cost, plastic surgery-specific application crafted to both improve the residency application process and to decrease financial barriers to students. We still accept ERAS, but using that platform is not required. Please apply through only one platform.
Requirements include:
- Medical School Transcript
- Three letters of recommendation from U.S. or Canadian physicians, including the chair of surgery or designee dean’s letter (or equivalent)
- Dean’s Letter (Medical School Performance Evaluation)
- Personal Statement
- USMLE Report (Step 1 and Step 2, if applicable)
- Current CV
In order to be ranked in the NRMP, all applicants must have passed USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 (CK) prior to February 1, 2024.
Visa and ECFMG:
- Only J-1 visas are accepted by the VCU Health System; our institution does not sponsor H-1B Visas.
- ECFMG Certification is required before acceptance into the program; however, an interview can be granted without a certificate.
Eligibility & Selection
All applicants must be licensed or eligible to practice medicine in Virginia. Applicants must be within four years of graduation from medical school and have three months of clearly documented direct patient care activity in the U.S. or Canada. U.S. and Canadian medical school clinical rotations and externships with direct patient care meet this requirement. Observerships and research fellowships do not qualify.
The division does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, age, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation.
Richmond, Virginia, combines the amenities of a major metropolitan area with the charm and convenience of a small, historic city.
As an urban academic medical center, the VCU School of Medicine rests in the heart of Richmond, Virginia (RVA to those who live here). We pride ourselves on being active members of our community, with a commitment to engaging and investing in Richmond as learners, researchers, healers and citizens.
VCU School of Medicine
As healers, scientists, faculty and learners in the VCU School of Medicine, we have a responsibility to condemn racism and all forms of discrimination. We will continue to own our history with transparency and humility, learning from the mistakes of the past and building on strengths of the present to create a more just and equitable future.
Tae Woon Chong, MD
Chair
Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Residency Program Director
Tae Woon Chong, MD
Chair
Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Residency Program Director
Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Address/Location:
VCU Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Box 980154
Richmond, VA. 23298-0154
Michael J. Feldman, MD
Professor
Michael J. Feldman, MD
Professor
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Medical Director of the Evans-Haynes Burn Center
B.W. Haynes Jr. Professorship in General and Trauma Surgery
Interim Chair, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Phone: 804-828-3033
Address/Location:
VCU Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Box 980154
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0154
Ja Hea Gu, MD
Assistant Professor
Ja Hea Gu, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Email: jahea.gu@vcuhealth.org
Address/Location:
VCU Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Box 980154
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0154
Ivette Klumb, MD
Assistant Professor
Ivette Klumb, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center
Phone: 804-828-3033
Address/Location:
VCU Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Box 980154
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0154
Paschalia “Lina” Mountziaris, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Director of Clinical Research
Paschalia “Lina” Mountziaris, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Director of Clinical Research
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Microsurgery
Breast Surgery
Aesthetic Surgery
Post Traumatic and Oncologic Reconstruction
Hand Surgery
Phone: 804-828-3033
Address/Location:
VCU Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Box 980154
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0154
Jennifer L. Rhodes, MD
Professor
Jennifer L. Rhodes, MD
Professor
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Cleft, Craniofacial, and Pediatric Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon
Medical Director, Center for Craniofacial Care, Children's Hospital of Richmond
Director Vascular Malformations Multidisciplinary Team
Phone: 804-828-3033
Address/Location:
VCU Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Box 980154
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0154
Prabhu Senthil-Kumar, MD
Assistant Professor
Prabhu Senthil-Kumar, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Email: prabhu.senthilkumar@vcuhealth.org
Address/Location:
VCU Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Box 980154
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0154
Alvin Wong, MD
Assistant Professor
Alvin Wong, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Assistant Professor of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Address/Location:
VCU Plastic Surgery
7301 Forest Avenue
Suite 100
Richmond, VA 23226
Tae Woon Chong, MD
Program Director
tae.chong@vcuhealth.org
Lauren Simonetti
Residency Program Coordinator
lauren.simonetti1@vcuhealth.org(804) 828-3039
Office Location
West Hospital
16th Floor, North Wing
Mailing address
Box 980154
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0154
Phone: (804) 828-3033
Fax: (804) 828-0489
