Seeking Patient Care?
A message from the Chief & Program Director: Devinder Singh, MD
The University of Miami/Jackson Health Systems Plastic Surgery Residency Program is iconic and world-renowned. This historic program was founded in 1964 by Dr. Gil Snyder from Johns Hopkins. In 1967, Dr. D. Ralph Millard was named Chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery. He revolutionized cleft lip surgery with the rotation advancement flap. A pioneer, legend, innovator, and winner of numerous accolades, Dr. Millard transformed lives and educated generations of plastic surgeons on “the principles and art of plastic surgery.” To this day, his group of trainees form the “Millard Society.”
In 1994, Dr. Seth Thaller assumed the position of Chief and Program Director. Under his leadership, the independent program grew to cover multiple clinical sites, developed a robust educational curriculum, became a frequent host of the ASMS educational course, and led multiple humanitarian missions with residents and students. He also established our integrated plastic surgery program. In 2017, Dr. Zubin Panthaki became Program Director. With Dr. Panthaki, the integrated program expanded.
I migrated from Maryland to Miami in July 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic! As the Division Chief, Program Director, and Professor of Clinical Surgery (interim) at the Miller School of Medicine, I am thrilled to lead this amazing clinical program into the future. I trained at Yale and was faculty at Johns Hopkins & University of Maryland. More recently, I served as Chief of Plastic Surgery at Luminis Health System in Annapolis. In Maryland, I was appointed by the governor to Chair the Board of Physicians, which is the state medical board responsible for protecting the public health.
Since arriving here, my emphasis has been on Quality, Excellence, and Integrity. It is an exciting time to be here! We doubled our faculty, expanded our existing programs and developed new clinical programs. Our current service lines are: Aesthetics, Breast Cancer, Cleft and Craniofacial, Microvascular, Lymphedema, Gender affirmation, Hand Surgery, Trauma (face, lower extremity, Burn) and Humanitarian. We are in support of investigation and innovation, and seek to merge new techniques with novel technologies in order to yield new therapies. We are excited to teach and train the next generation of students, residents and fellows. In plastic surgery, we improve patients’ quality of life. And at the “U,” we transform lives: yours, ours, and the patients.
In my role as Program Director, I am assisted by Associate Program Director, Wrood Kassira, MD, and Assistant Program Director, Sara Danker, MD. We currently offer a 3 year independent plastic surgery residency program and offer 2 positions per year. In 2014 we began a six-year integrated plastic surgery residency program. That program has grown and we now offer 2 positions through the match. In addition we have a 1 year hand fellowship program and offer 2 positions each year.
Our program combines our public county hospital/Jackson Health System with UHealth/University of Miami Health system. Jackson Memorial Hospital is the third largest hospital in the U.S. and includes Holtz Children’s Hospital and Ryder Trauma Center. On the same campus, we also have UHealth Tower, the University of Miami Hospital and the Miami VA Hospital. We serve a broad patient base with a vast range of pathology. We have brilliant physician-professors and surgeon-scientists on faculty. Our academic vision includes Clinical, Research and Teaching missions, while also focusing on Quality, Innovation, Development and Humanitarian work. We are an institution with resources, including National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Sylvester Cancer Center, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (the number one Eye Hospital in the country), Diabetes Research Institute and the Miami Project to cure Paralysis all on a single campus. In addition, we provide ambulatory surgery at the Lennar Foundation and we have a partnership with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. With our unique location, we serve as a gateway to hemispheric and global health. And we work and live in the sunshine state, in a beautiful city filled with a community of patients interested in cosmetic surgery!
Our faculty bring with them superb clinical training and support the many clinical service lines in our vast academic practice. My practice focuses on breast reconstruction, microsurgery and aesthetics. Seth Thaller, MD, DMD’s clinical focus includes craniofacial, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery. Zubin Panthaki, MD, who was fellowship trained at the Buncke Clinic, focuses on hand surgery, breast reconstruction and Mohs reconstruction. Aesthetic fellowship trained, Wrood Kassira, MD provides breast reconstruction, aesthetic surgery, and general reconstruction. John Oeltjen, MD focuses on breast reconstruction and microsurgery. Anne-Sophie Lessard, MD is hand fellowship trained and her clinical focus includes hand and breast surgery. Kyle Xu, MD, Buncke clinic trained, and Juan Mella, MD, MD Anderson trained, run our lymphedema practice and also perform complex microsurgery. Sara Danker, MD, MD Anderson trained, specializes in microsurgery and is building up our gender affirmation program. Lauren Yarholar, MD has a craniosynostosis and craniofacial practice. Natalia Fullerton, MD focuses on hand and lower extremity reconstruction. Helen Hui-Choi, MD practice includes hand and nerve surgery, including targeted muscle reinnervation.
At Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, our residents learn under the tutelage of S. Anthony Wolfe, MD, Chad Perlyn, MD and Aaron Berger, MD. The pediatric plastic surgery clinical experience is superb with a vast experience in craniosynostosis, cleft lip and palate surgery, and pediatric hand surgery.
Miami is a center for cosmetic surgery and our resident training experience is second to none. Residents learn aesthetic surgery from our core faculty and also from our voluntary faculty members. Residents have the extraordinary privilege of rotating with James Stuzin, MD, internationally known expert of facial aesthetic surgery and co-editor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal. In addition, their aesthetic experience also includes rotating with local community plastic surgeons Dr. Onelio Garcia and Dr. Joe Garri.
Our residents’ clinical experience is complemented by a robust educational curriculum, which includes weekly Grand Rounds and didactics, weekly oral board style case discussions, monthly Quality Assurance conference, visiting professors (2-4 times per year) and quarterly research meetings. Residents also have multiple educational labs: face/rhinoplasty cadaver lab, microsurgical skills lab, upper and lower extremity flap dissection lab. In addition, Miami is often the host to many national or international plastic surgery meetings, including the Baker Gordon Educational Symposium and this year the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), which provide amazing educational and networking opportunities.
Our program provides a supportive educational environment that encourages inquiry and embraces diversity and inclusion. We look forward to the continued growth of our plastic and reconstructive surgery programs and to an exciting and productive future!
Devinder Singh, M.D.
Chief & Program Director, Division of Plastic Surgery
Professor of Surgery