Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Residency

Program Overview

Plastic Surgery Education

The Division of Plastic Surgery at Loyola Medicine is committed to high quality education in an environment that considers the multiple dimensions of a first-rate educational experience: academic, clinical, ethical, moral and personal growth.

Residency

Loyola has been training surgeons to excel in plastic surgery since Orion Stuteville, DDS, MD, created the Independent Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery program in 1971. Dr. Juan Angelats, one of the first graduates from the independent plastic and reconstructive surgery residency at Loyola, remained on as faculty for 40 years and contributed immensely to the education and mentorship of his trainees throughout their careers.

Together with Dr. Raymond Warphea, who became Chairman of the Division in 1975 until his retirement in 2000, Dr. Angelats and Dr. Sidney Blair created a combined hand service between the Division of Plastic Surgery and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. At the time, the team was one of the only institutions in Chicago to perform upper extremity replantations, and the combined hand service still exists today. Dr. Vandevender joined the faculty in 1995, followed by Dr. Cimino in 2003. Dr. Cimino served as the Program Director and Division Chief until 2020, until moving to private practice.

Dr. Sonya Agnew, who joined the faculty in 2015, took the role of Program Director in 2020 until 2023 and now has started a new role of Division Director for Hand Surgery and will also stay on as Associate Program Director for Plastic and Reconstructive Sugery. Dr. Joseph Ogrodnik joined in 2018 and now has been promoted to Program Director in 2023 after serving a year as Associate Program Director. Dr. Eleanor Bucholz in started in 2019 and took the role of Associate Clerkship Director for the Medical School in 2022. Dr. Timothy King started as Division Chief in 2021 rounding out our excellent team. Come the fall of 2023, Dr. Katie Grunzweig will be joining our team as well.

The program has excelled in maxillofacial trauma, burn reconstruction, autogenous and alloplastic breast reconstruction, truncal reconstruction, cosmetic surgery and upper extremity surgery. With the introduction of our Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency in 2015, our independent residency was phased out in July of 2020. The Department and its affiliates offer an exceptional training program in all areas of plastic and reconstructive surgery and extraordinary opportunities for clinical research.

Our major clinical focus includes oncoplastic reconstruction, maxillofacial trauma, hand and extremity trauma, limb salvage, and body contouring and facial cosmetic surgery. Our residents also rotate at the Shriners Hospital and Lurie Children’s hospital.

Events over the last decade have changed the specialty of plastic surgery and these changes have created the need for new approaches to maintaining the competence of practicing plastic surgeons and educating future plastic surgeons. Responsive to these changes, the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is continuously making modifications and expansions in the curriculum.

Major areas of teaching include:

• Increasing knowledge that fosters ever greater sub-specialization within craniofacial, breast, 
  cosmetic, post-oncologic and post-traumatic reconstructive, hand and upper extremity surgeries
• New technology (advanced microvascular and lymphatic reconstruction, state of the art laser 
  therapy)
• Focus on strategies for quality and outcomes improvement and surgical risk reduction

Program Research

Areas of investigation and studies currently underway within the Division of Plastic Surgery include:

• Oncoplastic breast outcomes
• Socioeconomic disparities in limb salvage and maxillofacial trauma
• Implementation of EMR protocols to increase compliance with perioperative QI measures
• Perioperative medication safety in oculoplastic surgery
• Corneal neurotization
• Diagnostic imaging of pressure sores

Thank you for your interest in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Loyola. At this time, we are not accepting Medical Student Research Rotations.

Current Integrated & Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Residents

Adam Gould, MD

6th Year Resident, Chief Resident

Bianca DiChiaro, MD

5th Year Resident

Jessica Luo, MD

4th Year Resident

Parinaz Jila Dabestani, MD

3rd Year Resident

Joseph Fahmy, MD

3rd Year Resident

Marissa Polancich, MD

2ndst Year Resident

Taylor Morgan, MD

1^st Year Resident

Armaan Amin-Javaheri, MD

1^st Year Resident

Application Process

Individuals interested in applying to the Integrated Plastic & Reconstructive Residency Program must apply through ERAS or PSCA and must be registered with the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). Your submission must include your application, three letters of recommendation (from the faculty of your choice), Dean's Letter, personal statement, medical school transcript, and USMLE scores.

The deadline for applications is October 1. We will conduct two interview dates in January for residency training beginning June 22.

A decision to schedule an interview will be based upon a screening of all applications received through the ERAS or the PSCA system.

Should you have any remaining questions or concerns regarding our program, please feel free to contact Jessica Castaneda (Jessica.Castaneda@lumc.edu), Residency Coordinator.

Meet the Integrated Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Residency Faculty

Sonya Agnew, MD

Associate Professor of Surgery 
Assistant Program Director

Learn more about Dr. Agnew

Eleanor Bucholz, MD

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Learn more about Dr. Bucholz

Katherine Grunzweig, MD

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Learn more about Dr. Grunzweig

Timothy King, MD

Professor of Surgery 
Division Director, Plastics & Reconstructive Surgery

Learn more about Dr. King

Joseph Ogrodnik, MD

Assistant Professor of Surgery 
Program Director

Learn more about Dr. Ogrodnik

Darl Vandevender, MD

Associate Professor of Surgery 

 

Learn more about Dr. Vandevender

Residency Salary and Benefits

For a list of benefit options, please refer to the Housestaff Benefits booklet that residents receive after being hired.

Residents will have 30 days from their hire date to elect benefits. Please note that residents are responsible for making their benefits election in Workday in order to ensure coverage during the training period at Loyola. All trainees are entitled to the benefits outlined in the 2023-2024 Benefits Addendum which is part of the Graduate Medical Education agreement.

Residents may add, change or drop coverage ONLY during the annual open enrollment period, which is held once a year in the fall unless they have a loss of coverage or a change in family status. Changes in family status include marriage, divorce, birth, adoption or death. A change in coverage status due to loss of coverage or a change in family status must be made within 30 days of the event through the Human Resources office.

Retirement

All Loyola employees are automatically enrolled in a retirement plan. If residents would like to opt-out of this 2% payroll deduction, they must contact Fidelity Investments within 30 days of their start date.

Salary

2023-2024 stipend levels:

PGY-1: $64,125 
PGY-2: $68,269 
PGY-3: $70,408 
PGY-4: $73,973 
PGY-5: $77,426 
PGY-6: $80,557

Contact Us

Jessica Castaneda 
Residency Education Coordinator 
Department of Surgery 
Email: jessica.castaneda@lumc.edu