title: The Tsao Fellowship in Global Health: A Model for International Fellowships in a Surgery Residency.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present a model for integrated global health fellowships in plastic surgical residency training.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  National surveys have found that North American surgical residents have significant interest in international training. While global health training opportunities exist, less than a third of these are housed within surgical residency programs; even fewer are designed specifically for plastic surgery residents.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Tsao Fellowship was created through a partnership between Operation Smile, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Shriners Hospital for Children, and the University of Southern California. Designed for Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited plastic surgery residents between their third and fourth years of residency, the fellowship curriculum is completed over 24 months and divided into 3 areas: clinical research, international reconstructive surgery fieldwork, and the completion of a Master of Science in Clinical and Biomedical Investigations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Tsao Fellowship has matriculated 4 fellows: 3 have graduated from the program and 1 is in the current cycle. Fellows completed 4 to 7 international missions each cycle and have performed an aggregate total of 684 surgical procedures. Each fellow also conducted 2 to 6 research projects and authored several publications. All fellows continue to assume leadership roles within the field of global reconstructive surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Comprehensive global health fellowships provide invaluable opportunities beyond surgical residency. The Tsao Fellowship is a model for integrating international surgical training with global health research in plastic surgical residency that can be applied to other residency programs and different surgical specialties.
authors.affiliation: *Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California †Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shriners Hospital for Children ‡Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Children's Hospital Los Angeles §USC Institute of Global Health, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA ||Division of Plastic Surgery, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN ¶Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Caroline A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Trisa B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Taro
authors.forename: Heather L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Wipfli
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ly
authors.forename: Justin T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Gillenwater
authors.forename: Melinda A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Ricardo D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Magee
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation; D035843:Biomedical Research; D002140:California; D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D007393:International Educational Exchange; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008493:Medical Missions; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D013518:Surgery, Plastic / Q000193:education*