05/23/2026
My training involved weekly teaching conferences with many greats in plastic surgery - .rohrich, , Jeff Kenkel, Fritz Barton, and many more.
Any extra information, any fluff, would expose yourself to lines of uncomfortable questioning, and definite derailing and public dismantling.
Conversely, when prepared, I remember flying through two cases in 6 minutes with Dr. Rohrich, and feeling like we absolutely hit all the high points.
The structure for us:
1. 1-liner summary. No fluff. Every detail leads to obvious questions and conclusions. Anything else was readily available, but not offered.
2. Proactively hit the branch points in decision making. Work up, prep, optimization, etc.
3. Understand what choice you (or really your attending made) for intervention, and why, and why not other options on the table were not taken.
4. A little bit about technique, anatomy, other variations on the surgery. Sometimes to satisfy curiosity about how an attending pulls off a certain surgery (like Dr. Byrd’s endoscopic brow and midface lift), other times to review other historic options that are underused, but deserve revisiting.
5. Understanding common and uncommon but devastating complications, and how to handle those. Facelift skin necrosis, free flap compromise, etc.
6. Sometimes dipping into ethical questions. E.g., unhappy patients wanting a refund.
7. Rinse and repeat, for all of your cases for the week.
Every other specialty and medical school rotation will have their own framework that the attending will expect, and any break in that flow leads to an immediate screeching halt.
Figure out what that expectation is, show you can master that, before you go on and try to riff on it.
Finally, the process is iterative. Write down the 1-liner and key points. As you read and learn more, you realize what additional info needs to be included, and what can be removed.
The growing pains will happen. It’s simple, but not easy. More tips and insights to come.
