Guide · Mansher Singh, MD, FACS
What does fellowship training mean in plastic surgery?
An explanation of fellowship training in plastic surgery: how it differs from residency, which fellowships are accredited, and how to verify one.
Updated September 2026 · Reviewed by Mansher Singh, MD, FACS
Short answer
A fellowship is a period of subspecialty training undertaken after a residency is complete. In plastic surgery, residency is the training that leads to board certification, while a fellowship adds concentrated experience in a narrower area such as craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, or aesthetic surgery. Some fellowships are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and others are not, and that distinction matters when interpreting the term.
TL;DR
- A fellowship is a period of subspecialty training undertaken after a residency is complete.
- Is a fellowship required to practise plastic surgery? No.
- Is a fellowship trained surgeon better? Fellowship indicates focused training in a defined area.
- What is the difference between a clinical and a research fellowship? A clinical fellowship involves patient care and operating under supervision.
Residency and fellowship are different things
| Residency | Fellowship | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Core specialty training | Subspecialty training after residency |
| Typical duration in plastic surgery | Six years integrated, or three years independent after general surgery | One year, sometimes two |
| Leads to board certification | Yes, it is the prerequisite | No, though some subspecialties have their own certificate |
| Accreditation | Accredited by the ACGME | Some ACGME accredited, some not |
| Verifiable | Through the certifying board and the program | Through the program or the sponsoring society |
Pathways into plastic surgery
There are two recognised routes. The integrated pathway is a six year plastic surgery residency entered directly from medical school.
Both lead to eligibility for examination by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. A surgeon trained through the independent pathway therefore holds two completed residencies, and may hold two board certifications.
Which fellowships are ACGME accredited
Within plastic surgery, surgery of the hand and craniofacial surgery are among the fellowships with formal accreditation structures. Surgery of the hand additionally has a subspecialty certificate available through the certifying boards.
Aesthetic surgery fellowships are commonly sponsored by professional societies rather than accredited by the ACGME. That does not make them unstructured, but it does mean oversight, duration, and case exposure vary between programs, so the name of the program matters more than the word fellowship.
How to verify fellowship training
- Ask which institution sponsored the fellowship and in which years.
- Check whether the program is listed by the ACGME or by the sponsoring professional society.
- Confirm whether the fellowship was clinical or research based.
- Confirm board certification separately, since fellowship and certification are different credentials.
- Where a subspecialty certificate exists, such as surgery of the hand, verify it through the certifying board directory.
What fellowship training does and does not indicate
A fellowship indicates concentrated exposure to a defined area under supervision, usually in a high volume setting. That is meaningful, particularly for uncommon or technically narrow work.
It does not by itself indicate current practice pattern, since surgeons often practise differently from their fellowship focus, and it does not substitute for board certification. It also does not predict outcomes for an individual operation.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a fellowship required to practise plastic surgery?
- No. Completion of an accredited plastic surgery residency is what leads to board eligibility and certification. A fellowship is additional subspecialty training.
- Is a fellowship trained surgeon better?
- Fellowship indicates focused training in a defined area. It is one credential among several and does not by itself establish superiority for any given operation.
- What is the difference between a clinical and a research fellowship?
- A clinical fellowship involves patient care and operating under supervision. A research fellowship is dedicated research time and indicates academic activity rather than additional operative training.
- Can any program call itself a fellowship?
- The word is not universally protected, which is why the sponsoring institution, duration, and accreditation or society oversight are the details worth asking about.
Experience, expertise, authority, trust
- Experience
- Attending plastic surgeon, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York
- Expertise
- Triple board certified: ABPS, ABS, ABFPRS
- Authoritativeness
- Johns Hopkins faculty; 65 peer-reviewed papers on PubMed
- Trust
- Patient reviews reproduced verbatim, unedited, with sources
Mansher Singh, MD, FACS: reviews and trust checks
642 verbatim patient reviews from the practice Google Business Profile, plus credentials you can confirm at the issuing source.
This page is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice. Individual candidacy for any procedure can only be determined during a consultation with a qualified physician.