Guidelines for Training and Certification in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
The European Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery Societies (EAFPS) aims to train, maintain and uphold the highest quality in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery through its recognized Fellowships and Certification process. This ensures training compliance, with all member Societies involved, maintains uniformity in the highest standards of training, and reassures the patients and the public.
The fellowship in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is available to surgeons who have completed training in Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery or Plastic Surgery and have passed the respective specialty exams of the member societies country(‘s).
Fellows who successfully complete the EAFPS fellowship are expected to pursue certification by the European Board of Certification in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (EBCFPRS).
General
i) Recognition and management of congenital anomalies, deformities, lesions, trauma, and aging process of the face, head and neck;
ii) Surgical management of congenital, inflammatory, neoplastic, traumatic and aging states of the face, head and neck including, but not limited to: a) nasal surgery; b) maxillofacial, plastic and reconstructive surgery of the head and neck;
iii) Oncologic surgery of the head and neck; d) head and neck reconstructive surgery as it relates to the restoration of function, congenital anomalies, head and neck trauma; e) pre- and postoperative care; f) minimally invasive techniques; and g) management of complications;
iv) Diagnostic methods including related laboratory procedures;
v) Awareness of current literature pertaining to all areas of the curriculum;
vi) Awareness of the habilitation/rehabilitation techniques and procedures pertaining to facial plastic and reconstructive surgery;
vii) Additional basic and clinical science topics pertinent to the physiology of soft tissue and bone innervation, perfusion, repair and healing.
All fellowship programs must be approved by the EAFPS Fellowship Review Committee.
A single responsible individual must direct the fellowship program. The Program Director must maintain active hospital privileges to perform facial plastic surgery procedures or have privileges in an outpatient setting to perform facial plastic surgery procedures. He or she must be an experienced facial plastic surgeon with sufficient administrative experience, and research interest to ensure effective training of the Fellow and steer the fellowship program. The Program Director must have taken the EBCFPRS exam under the auspices of the IFFPRSS.
The Program Director must ensure that the Fellowship Program
1- Meets the goals and objectives as set out by EAFPS and should be able to systematically assess that these goals have been met.
2 – Provide adequate educational resources and materials, such as library facility, books, journals and videos.
3- Performs regular evaluation of the knowledge, skills and professional growth of the fellow, using appropriate written criteria and procedures, and is equipped with tools to address any deficiencies as required by the IFFPSS. This will be performed at the six and twelve-month marks of the fellowship.
4- Formal evaluation and documentation of Fellows’ performance in each of the following categories: knowledge, operative skills, surgical exposure, and complications .
5- A final written evaluation of each fellow upon completion of the program supplied by the IFFPRSS Fellowship Committee is required. The evaluation includes a review of the Fellow’s performance during the training program, and should verify that the Fellow has demonstrated sufficient competency to that point of training. The purpose of evaluation is to document satisfactory completion of the fellowship. This evaluation must be included as part of the Fellow’s permanent record and must be maintained by the institution and recorded with the IFFPRSS .
Qualifying institutions include University hospitals, private practices, ambulatory care settings and outpatient clinics, or a combination of the above. The sponsoring institution must provide sufficient faculty, financial resources and academic support to enable the program to comply with the Fellowship requirements.
Fellowships that are based in institutions or centers that also sponsor residency training programs must demonstrate that the fellowship and residency programmes are not in conflict. The fellowship experience must not compete with the residency training program for surgical cases. Separate statistics must be maintained for each program.
Fellows must be compliant with the occupational health, health and safety, as well mandatory training programmes required by each institution.
Institutional facilities and resources must be adequate to provide the educational experiences and opportunities required to fulfil the needs of the educational program as specified above. These include, but are not limited to, facilities and personnel resources for fellows to carry out their patient care and personal educational responsibilities, administrative offices, and an adequate library and internet capability providing access to standard reference text and current journals, and sufficient space for instruction.
There shall be frequent didactic sessions including, but not limited to, morbidity and mortality conference, journal club, clinical presentations, research and basic science presentations.
Each Fellowship Program must comply with the goal and objectives of the EAFPS. To aid in the assessment of IFFPSS fellowship programs, each program must regularly evaluate the degree to which its goals are being met through a formal assessment and appraisal of outcomes. To accomplish this, each fellowship program will submit an annual report to the EAFPS and will undergo a more extensive formal review every three to five years, as determined by the Fellowship Review Committee of the EAFPS.