Craniofacial Clinical Research Fellowship

The Craniofacial Clinical Research Fellowship in the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive and Oral Surgery at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Dr. Jesse Taylor [00:00:11] So I'm Dr. Jesse Taylor. I'm the chief of the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive and Oral Surgery at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Dr. Jordan Swanson [00:00:17] My name is Jordan Swanson. I'm the Linton Whitaker Endowed Chair of Craniofacial Surgery here at CHOP.

Dr. Scott Bartlett [00:00:22] I'm Dr. Scott Bartlett. I'm the former chairman here at the Division of Plastic Surgery and a professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. The people we're looking for to recruit are people that are interested in plastic surgery as a specialty and, in particular, craniofacial surgery as a subspecialty.

Dr. Jesse Taylor [00:00:40] We knew we had a large clinical experience here. By having the clinical research, fellows have learned how to better tell the story, learned how to better promote the work that we're doing and tell others about it. So while I might be in the operating room doing surgery on children, the research fellows are here in the office looking through charts, calling families, doing the type of work that a research fellow would do in order to share outcomes with the world.

Dr. Jordan Swanson [00:01:11] One of my favorite things about the fellowship is that we have young, really bright but creative people that are coming in and bringing fresh eyes to situations. And that's not just through scientific thinking and thinking about setting up and carrying out studies, but also thinking about how we should be looking at the problems we're taking care of.

Dr. Scott Bartlett [00:01:29] I think the thing that makes it unique is really the volume of cases that we do. We're in a position where we see a huge number of patients from the Greater Northeast. We're looking for people that are self-starters, having some independence to do the projects they want, but always having mentors available to bounce ideas off of.

Dr. Jesse Taylor [00:01:48] They have access to all 12 of our faculty members in the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive and Oral Surgery here at CHOP, and as such, they have access to the clinical material that goes along with us being the most active and largest volume pediatric plastic surgery group in the country. It really is an incredible mentorship experience, gradual responsibility. All three of us, Dr. Swanson, Dr. Bartlett and I really believe in the concept of teamwork.

Dr. Dan Mazzaferro [00:02:19] My name is Dan Mazzaferro. I'm currently a PGY 4 plastic surgery resident at Penn, and I was a fellow here in 2017, 2018.

Dr. Carrie Morales [00:02:28] My name is Carrie Morales. I did this research fellowship in 2020 to 2021. I'm now an intern in plastic surgery here at Penn. I knew the reputation of the program. I knew that everyone kind of coming through has been extremely productive and gone wonderful places. But when I met Dr. Taylor and actually talked to him about his vision for the fellowship and kind of the way he thinks about research, that's what really made me sure I wanted to dedicate time to it.

Dr. Dan Mazzaferro [00:02:55] This fellowship really had an outstanding opportunity to develop lifelong mentorships, a strong teamwork where you can work with each other and you can improve your knowledge base, and you can really develop lifelong relationships, friendships, and mentorships. Anyone starting off excited about plastic surgery, there's a few elements that I would highly recommend, and it is, one, making sure you're passionate about it. It is a long road, but it is totally, totally rewarding if you're passionate about it and you love it. Then when you go to work every day, you're excited about it, and you want to do it every day, one day after another.

Dr. Carrie Morales [00:03:28] I got a lot out of this fellowship by working hard and picking up knowledge from everyone around me. So I think the surgeons are incredible, but the whole team is amazing, and everyone has different areas of expertise that you can gain.

Dr. Jordan Swanson [00:03:40] All the energy of CHOP, a world-class pediatric hospital alongside Penn, all of the resources of a very vibrant top university that are all available and very interested in collaborating, in a city that's amazing to live in with great restaurants and great parks and a great river to run alongside. There's a lot of energy here. So diversity, inclusion issues are really important because a lot of the patients that we take care of have physical differences. They have difficulty speaking sometimes. So their speech sounds a little bit different, and these things can be really stigmatizing. And so in taking care of a group of patients that are vulnerable and have to deal with these issues, we need to be at the vanguard of addressing them.

Dr. Scott Bartlett [00:04:18] The residents that they will interact with are a very collegial professional group of people. We get really high-quality residents, and there's a real team spirit here. So I think they'll find it a very inviting environment.

Dr. Jordan Swanson [00:04:31] We take seriously preparing our fellows for what is going to come next for them, whether it's applying to a plastic surgery residency or going back to a residency, or onto a career that they're planning to do. We want to be able to use that year to really set them up for success beyond.

Dr. Jesse Taylor [00:04:44] It's a singular experience in craniofacial surgery that would be hard to match and hard to find elsewhere. We hope that you'll give it a good look, and we encourage you to apply if you're interested. And hopefully someday we'll look forward to seeing you here at CHOP. Thank you.