The craniofacial fellowship is based on a large clinical referral base from five states. The non-ACGME fellowship program has graduated 22 craniofacial surgeons who are currently practicing in academic and private practice environments. The fellowship educational experience is intrinsically linked to the Seattle Children's Hospital Craniofacial Center, a 40 member interdisciplinary team with coordinated clinical and academic activities. Facial trauma experience is gained at the Harborview Regional Level 1 Trauma Center.

Goals and Objectives for Training:

Graduates of the program will have been exposed to diagnosing and peri-operative care of a large clinical volume of both pediatric and adult congenital and acquired craniomaxillofacial abnormalities. The goal of the program is to train individuals to be competent in all aspects of surgery of the craniofacial skeleton. The fellowship experience is approximately 80% pediatric and 20% adult.

Training includes:

1. Cleft lip and palate care and repair;
2. Pediatric craniofacial surgery;
3. Craniomaxillofacial trauma of all ages;
4. Pediatric plastic surgery;
5. Pediatric and adult acute trauma and secondary trauma reconstruction;
6. Facial reanimation procedures
7. Craniofacial microsurgery
8. Distraction osteogenesis and orthognathic surgery; and
9. Clinical research.

Teaching Staff:
There are four full time academic plastic surgery faculty in the Craniofacial program: Drs. Richard Hopper, Joseph Gruss, Craig Birgfeld and Raymond Tse. Dr. Peter Neligan also operates with the craniofacial faculty on cases involving microsurgery and facial reanimation. The fellow will be exposed to the experiences of the interdisciplinary team of the Craniofacial Center including four craniofacial pediatricians.

Facilities:
The program is based at the Craniofacial Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital, the pediatric tertiary care center for the Northwest region. Adult craniomaxillofacial experience, both acquired and congenital, is treated at Harborview Medical Center, a nationally recognized level I trauma center.

For more information: Craniofacial Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital; Harborview Medical Center

Clinical and Research Components:
Clinical activity is on a supervised basis. Candidates for the fellowship must be eligible for a full Washington state license and will have faculty privileges at both hospitals. Active participation in ongoing clinical outcome studies and case series analysis is expected. Presentation of original clinical research at a national meeting is supported and expected.

Participant’s Supervisory & Patient Care Responsibilities:
As an acting instructor at the University of Washington, the participant will be involved in the clinical supervision and teaching of medical students and plastic surgery residents.

Procedural Requirements:
Individuals in the program must have well-developed Plastic Surgery skills and be familiar with the full range of Plastic Surgery procedures.

Didactic Components:
Participants in the program participate in CME accredited national and regional craniofacial conferences. Attendance is expected at the weekly University of Washington Plastic Surgery Divisional Rounds.

Program Certifications:  No additional certifications.
Date of inception of fellowship: 1993
Number of fellows graduated since inception:  22
Names and current positions of your fellows over the past ten years:

Number of surgeons the fellow will operate with at least every two weeks: 4
Number of hospitals the fellow will operate at for elective cases: 2
Average number of OR day blocks the fellows will attend per week (report half day blocks as 0.5): 3
Number of craniofacial or cleft related clinics that the fellow will attend per week (report half day clinics as 0.5) 1.5

Description of research opportunities during the fellowship:

Case components of fellowship:

Positions in this program are filled through the Craniofacial Match Program, http://sfmatch.org/.  Individuals applying for this program must have completed an ACGME accredited residency in and be either board certified or board eligible in Plastic Surgery and eligible to be licensed in the State of Washington.

*Deadline for application to this SF Match program: August 31 of each year for the following year's appointment. Interviews are generally held during September, October and November. *Please submit your application materials as early as possible for consideration of an onsite interview as early as September.  Must be registered through http://sfmatch.org/.

Duration:
Program is a one-year appointment, July 1st – June 30th.

Prerequisite Training/Selection Criteria:
Applicants have completed verified training in Plastic Surgery.

Location of Fellowship: This fellowship is based at the University of Washington Hospitals including primarily Seattle Children’s Hospital and Harborview Medical Center.

The salary for this position is commensurate with institutional guidelines relative to the educational level of the individual involved.
Application materials required:

Individuals wishing to apply for this program should forward the following items (listed below) to Dr. Richard Hopper, c/o Craniofacial Fellowship Program Manager (see address below).

Please submit the following;

1. A formal letter of application addressed to Dr. Richard Hopper, c/o Craniofacial Fellowship Program Manager, Seattle Children’s Hospital, 4800 Sand Point Way, Mail Stop #W7847, Seattle, WA 98105. Also accepted via email PDF with required signatures on letters to the Craniofacial Fellowship Program Manager's email address (email address is located in the Fellowship sidebar on the right side of this page).

In addition to your letter of application, please submit the following to the same address listed above;

2. An updated copy of your Curriculum Vitae.
3. A personal statement.
4. Three letters of reference. One letter from the director of your plastic surgery program; one letter from the director of your general surgery or advanced training program; and one letter from a colleague who is familiar with your performance. Each institution submitting the letter can send via standard mail and to expedite can send via scanned PDF (showing signature) to the Craniofacial Fellowship Program Manager's email address (email address is located in the Fellowship sidebar on the right side of this page). Original must be mailed if sending via email PDF.

If you are selected for an interview you will be contacted via email in September. Please list your best available email address on your Curriculum Vitae.

For more information, please contact the Program Manager listed in the Fellowship sidebar on the right side of this page.

**We are not accepting international applicants at this time. **

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Modified March 2013 - MDH

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