Previous fellows
CURRENT, PAST AND FUTURE FELLOWS
January 2012
Tiia Pihlamaa (Helsinki, Finland)
January 2012
Lyth Gurgia (Örebro, Sweden/Iraq)
January 2012
Vasu Karri (London, UK)
January 2012
Ayodele Ogunkeyede (Ibadan, Nigeria)
It is a great privilege to become a fellow under DAFPRS fellowship programme, not only has it offered me the rare opportunity to meet one of the finest facial surgeons- Prof W. Gubisch, but it has given me an avenue to interact with a unique area of Surgery –the Face, which I have always craved for.
The clinic in Marienhospital Stuttgart, offers an excellent place to learn the skills required to become an excellent facial plastic surgeon. The team at facial plastic clinic in Marienhospital, has an uncompromising attitude to make you feel at home and carry you along on the day-to-day activities of the clinic. It was home away from home.
Prof. W. Gubisch and Dr. H. Fischer are teachers per excellence as they are always eager to listen to your queries and answers with accuracy, bringing to bear with their years of experience in the field of facial Surgery. No query is stupid! They create environment for you to express yourself. The clinic gives you room to be involved in the pre-operative preparation of the patients and also, allows you to take part in the surgical procedures without any hindrance. Tricks that bring outstanding results are usually discussed during procedures.
Special thanks to Dr. H. Fischer (Leitender Oberarzt) who made his office available for me during my stay, from whose experience I gained a lot. Finally, I am very grateful to Dr. Van der Meulen, for organizing this Fellowship programme, which has given some of us with deprived facial plastic surgery background an opportunity to learn from the best. You are one in a million!
October 2011
Dr David Rasteiro (Lisboa, Portugal)
The first time I heard about this facial fellowship, I held my expectations high. I had been searching for an international experience in this field for a long time and this sounded like the perfect opportunity.
It didn’t disappoint. I took the 6 months program, the first 3 months in Rotterdam and the second three months in Laclinic, Montreux.
For me it was a special combination of reconstructive and aesthetic plastic surgery. The first trimester I runned (or cycled) from Rotterdam or Utrecht to den Haag looking after the best surgical opportunities. It was an excellent learning experience. From craniossynostoses repair to ear reconstruction passing through microsurgical head and neck reconstruction and rhinoplasties, all could be found.
In Laclinic was a totally different experience. The setting is marvellous and the clinic conditions are exclusive and luxurious. Mainly dedicated to aesthetic surgery, Laclinic works in a familiar, discrete environment. For me it turned out to be growing and maturing experience. Surgically is a world of knowledge, but what I treasure the most are the friends I gained.
October 2011
Dr Mohamed Zedan (Cairo, Egypt)
I consider myself lucky to have this opportunity to join this fellowship and to be one of the fellows. It is well organized and the professors participating in it are very helpful, supportive and they always share all their knowledge in teaching all the tips and tricks in different types of operations. At the beginning, I had many troubles during the preparations that made me desperate to join this fellowship, yet after I joined I found it very useful as I had the opportunity to see and enhance my knowledge in aesthetic surgery and to open my mind and way of thinking in different types of operations like the ear reconstruction. Thanks to Dr. Van der Meulen, Dr. J. Stevens in the Hauge, and Prof. Kon in Utrecht for their usual support. I am proud to recommend this fellowship program to every plastic surgeon wants to increase his learning curve as it enables to choose and learn what you want in the field of facial plastic surgery.
At last, special thanks to Dr. Van der Meulen for his effort in organizing this program and in supporting me all the time, not only in the medical topics but also in the way of thinking and life management, I really can’t forget it. I am delighted to be one of the fellows as it was really worth it.
September 2011
Dr Clarice Abreu (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil)
The DAFPRS fellowship is a unique life experience! You have the chance to interact with physicians from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds pertaining to various facial surgery issues!
In Rotterdam, I had the opportunity to visit a Center of Reference in Craniofacial Surgery. As a craniofacial surgeon, I could learn different techniques and surgical approaches, especially for cranio vaults remodeling and cleft surgery. In The Hague, I could appreciate an innovative approach to the aesthetic facial surgery. I am thankful to the whole team of the Sophia Children’s Hospital and of the Bergman Clinic and I would like to thank specially to Dr van der Meulen, in Rotterdam and to Dr Stevens, in The Hague, for all the teaching and learning!
As a plastic surgeon from Brazil, with a strong aesthetic training background, the possibility of visiting Laclinic in the Switzerland was totally amazing! The exchange of experiences and small tricks that can make the whole difference in a cosmetic surgery was up to a high level! You can get in touch with literally all the professionals of the clinic and assist in all surgeries as a first assistant. Besides that, Switzerland is a really awesome place to live and visit! Some French knowledge is desirable. I am really thankful to the whole team of Laclinic, with a special thanks to Dr Lê-Huu and Dr Pfulg!
The interaction and integration of diverse ideas and perspectives helped me broaden my own perspective of the Facial Plastic Surgery and significantly increased my ability to judge cases and surgeries. The DAFPRS fellowship is an experience you cannot learn from the books!
June 2012
Jolita Zakaraite (Vilnius, Lithuania)
May 2011
Dr Anna Sargsyan (Yerevan, Armenia)
April 2011
Dr Ersoy Konas (Ankara, Turkey)
First of all I would like to congratulate the Dutch team especially the Dr. van der Meulen for this excellent and admirable organisation. The program organised by DAFPRS provides an excellent opportunity to gain broad experience not only in reconstructive but also in cosmetic surgery. The Rotterdam team has one of the largest craniofacial and cleft patient spectrums in the Europa. As a craniofacial surgeon, I could find opportunity to broaden my point of view and discuss the cases in details in the field of craniofacial and cleft surgery with totally open minded and competent surgeons including Dr van der Meulen , Dr. Mathijssen and Dr. van Adrichem. It is also possible to join a lot of aesthetic procedures with Dr. van der Meulen in the Velthuis Clinic and Dr. Stevens in the Hague before going to Gent. One of the most fascinating point is that fellows get complete lists of operation programs of all contributing departments on the Friday preceding the week and are totally free for planning their schedule. It should also be emphasised that a very well organised set up is waiting for the fellows in Gent. Dr. Verpeale and Dr. Tonnard are willing to share whatever they know.
January 2011
Dr Pieter Verduijn (Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
I can advise everyone who is interested in craniofacial surgery to apply for this fellowship. It is a great opportunity to see some really great surgeons. They are not only very skillful but they are also enthusiastic teachers. You will see most of them during international congresses as invited speaker or panel member. My program started with 3 months in the Netherlands where I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Mureau, Dr. Stevens, Prof. Kon and Dr van der Meulen. Here you can see the whole scope of craniofacial surgery from paediatrics to aesthetics and big craniofacial reconstructions. The next 6 weeks I spent in Stuttgart with Prof.Gubisch and his team. If you want to learn about rhinoplasty this is the place to be! My fellowship was completed with 6 weeks in Londen with Dr. Grobbelaar, who is known for his facial reanimation surgery, and the consultants in the Royal Free Hampstead hospital, a great experience.
The big advantage of this fellowship is the diversity it offers and the way you can cherry pick the operations and hospitals. What I also found really attractive was to experience a different culture, both in as well as outside the hospitals. There certainly is the opportunity to scrub and assist during operations.
November 2010
Dr Mihai Aschillian, (Cluj, Romenia)
I had the opportunity to meet some amazing and inspiring people, both professionally and in their day by day life. At their side, I succeeded in adding to my professional experience plenty of tips and tricks that will certainly guide me from now on. I wish to thank DAFPRS for this fellowship; I also wish to express my reverential gratitude to Mr. Patrick Tonnard, MD and to Mr. Alex Verpaele, MD, whom raised the aesthetic surgery to an extremely high level. I recommend this fellowship to all plastic surgeons whom wish to expand their horizons in the field of the facial surgery.
September 2010
Dr Rolf Bartsch (Vienna, Austria)
Attending this extraordinary fellowship program provides an inside into a large spectrum in the field of reconstructive and aesthetic facial surgery. The teaching offers the possibility to see and learn via a truly three-dimensional understanding of facial structures, which are hardly taught in this manner anyway else. You are not only challenged by the opportunity of assisting a variety of operations, but also by operating parts of them yourself. The young team of ambitious plastic surgeons is eager to give you a supporting and warmth welcome at all time. The openminded consultants like Jacques van der Meulen and Jeroen Stevens are willing to show their secret tricks and discuss every case by face-to-face teaching. The fellow has the possibility of free choice on the operation schedule taking place in three different institutions: either at the Erasmus UC, in Utrecht or in The Hague, so it easier to choose ones field of interest. I recommend every senior resident interested in facial plastic surgery to apply for this fellowship, to get more experienced in this fascinating field of plastic surgery.
August 2010
Dr Negin Shamsian (Oxford, UK)
Rotterdam’s Sophia hospital is an undisputed centre of excellence in facial surgery receiving referrals from all over the Netherlands. Its unique blend of innovative surgery and strong research base make it an ideal place to have a period of training. I haven’t had the opportunity to do this fellowship yet, but have had the privilege of a short visit to Rotterdam, one of the largest craniofacial units in Europe. My opinion is that any trainee that is chosen for the fellowship will be very fortunate indeed. I understand the fellowship covers all aspects of facial plastic surgery including congenital conditions, reconstructive surgery, and cosmetic surgery. I cannot speak highly enough of this department after my recent visit.
I have had the pleasure of meeting the craniofacial consultants Dr Jacques van der Meulen, Dr Irene Mathijssen and Dr Leon van Adrichem, and also Dr Marc Mureau who are not only amongst the most talented surgeons that I have met but also very pleasant individuals. The fellowship supervisor is Craniofacial and reconstructive Plastic Surgeon Dr van der Meulen who is a leading professional in paediatric plastic surgery including craniofacial and cleft surgery, and secondary cleft rhinoplasty. He is an excellent and effective teacher, an exceptional clinician, and an admirable individual and it was a privilege to meet him. To any trainee thinking of applying for this fellowship, I would recommend it wholeheartedly.
A Dutch Proverb says “Every goodbye is the birth of a memory”. My memory of Rotterdam will be one of a group of very talented individuals who are not only valuable role models as surgeons, trainers and clinicians but also in their way in which they treat others. The team at Rotterdam including the professor, consultants, trainees, nurses and co-ordinators Ms van Woerkom, and Ms Sack have succeeded in combining a very high standard of care, and training as well as a very enjoyable working environment which made me feel very welcome both academically and socially on my short visit and for that I would like to thank them.
April 2010
Dr Daphne Vos (Leeuwarden, The Netherlands)
“I have just finished this excellent fellowship. It is a unique opportunity to see experts in the field of facial plastic surgery at work in their own clinics in mostly one-on-one sessions. Not only learning tips and tricks on the technical skill that comes with this field of surgery is very useful, the organisation of different kinds of clinics is very interesting too. When you are a senior resident or junior plastic surgeon it is very nice to see and join operations you never saw before, to get ahead on experience and shorten your learning curve. You can organise your fellowship, as you would like it. With the very flexible schedule, emphasis on paediatric facial plastic surgery, or on aesthetic surgery is possible for example. The friendly, professional, nice staff and other team members will do everything to make your stay worthwhile. I would highly recommend this fellowship!”
January 2010
Dr Chantal Moues (Noordwijk, The Netherlands)
Even though I was trained as a plastic surgeon at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, joining this facial fellowship offered me the opportunity to enlarge my exposure to all aspects of facial plastic surgery. As a fellow I appreciated the flexibility to attend any operation or centre on any given day. Thus I was able to concentrate on my own areas of interest, namely pediatric cleft surgery, head and neck surgery and esthetic surgery. Also, due to this flexibility, I had the opportunity to travel to Nigeria on an Interplast mission, rapidly increasing my learning curve in cleft surgery. Joining the many head and neck oncologic reconstructions really increased my skills favorably. I would like to recommend this fellowship to all plastic surgeons with a special interest in facial surgery. Joining this program and their teachers will broaden your experience in all aspects of facial plastic surgery.
October 2009
Dr Vincent Lemaire (Luik, Belgium)
August 2009
Dr Nicolas Stütz (Nuremberg, Germany)
“It is a great pleasure to recommend the „International Fellowship in Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery“. The DAFPRS offers senior residents in the last year of their training program or “young” specialists in Plastic Surgery the opportunity of a fellowship under the guidance of very experienced experts of Facial Plastic Surgery.
Teaching mostly occurs in one-to-one sessions with you as the fellow either as first assistant or even operating and thus a steep learning curve will result. The staff is young, friendly and eager to share their expertise with you in their own specialised field in Facial Plastic Surgery. For me, this fellow-ship was a great chance to enhance my skills and knowledge in this exciting field, thank you very much!”
April 2009
Dr Athanasios Karonidis (Athens, Greece)
“I would like to congratulate the Dutch Association for Facial Plastic Reconstructive Surgery (DAFPRS) for this excellent Fellowship. The DAFPRAS Fellowship covers the broad aspect of facial plastic surgery in a comprehensive and organized manner. The mixture of the reconstructive and aesthetic plastic surgery that is provided in a flexible schedule works perfectly and does satisfy the expectations of the fellows.
It has been a great pleasure and valuable experience to work with leading experts, friendly, and well known plastic surgeons. In The Netherlands with Dr Jacques van der Meulen (Chairman of DAFPRS and Fellowship co-ordinator), Dr Marc Mureau and the team at Rotterdam, Dr Jerome Stevens in Den Hague, and Professor Moshe Kon in Utrecht. In Gent Belgium with Dr Patrick Tonnard and Dr Alexis Verpaele. At the end of this Fellowship the fellow has definitely obtained a unique concept in facial plastic surgery and been more competent to analyse and deal with reconstructive and aesthetic cases.
The Fellowship provides all the facilities that are required in a rational manner. The fellow has comfortable accommodation and transportation is provided by various means. Both countries are nice and I have really enjoyed my stay as everything is easy and approachable.
I have been honoured to be a DAFPRAS Fellow and I fully recommend it to all plastic surgeons with a special interest. This Fellowship has been very popular and, with no doubt, will carry on providing the high standards of care and offering a highly desirable qualification to the fellows.”
January 2009
Dr Sharham Sajjadi (Pécs, Hungary)
“This fellowship covers craniofacial, oncoplastic facial reconstructions, and facial aesthetics. It is organised and supervised by very experienced, competent but young and friendly plastic surgeons dedicated to teaching and managed by very competent secretaries. You will have absolute free hand to organise your weekly programs which is very interesting and challenging, just sometimes causing pity that you cannot be in two places at the same time! You will have good accommodation in both places and organised means of transportation. It has been great pleasure having the chance to work with such not only excellent surgeons but exemplary human beings. I cherish all my time spent during this fellowship and feel honoured for the developed friendship. I feel very lucky to have been accepted and advise it to all young plastic surgeons interested in broadening their experience in all aspects of facial plastic surgery.”
October 2008
Dr Lip Teh (Perth, Australia)
“The DAFPRS fellowship provides an excellent and broad platform to
further one’s skills in the areas of craniofacial deformities, cleft lip
and palate, ear reconstructions, head and neck surgery and facial
aesthetics. Despite this large scope, the fellow has the flexibility to
attend any list on a given day and therefore, is able to concentrate on
his/her own areas of interests. It has been a great pleasure to have
worked with Dr van der Meulen and the team at Rotterdam, Dr Stevens in
the Hague, Prof Kon in Utrecht and Drs Tonnard and Verpaele in Gent.
They are all leading experts in their fields and therefore without a
doubt, you will finish the job a more complete and competent facial
plastic surgeon.”
June 2008
Dr Ewald Dumont (Maastricht, The Netherlands)
“First I would like to appreciate the chance that is given me to attend this unique cranio-facial fellowship. The opportunity to meet and work with the most respected experts in Europe both in reconstructive and the aesthetic field has enormously boosted my armentarium of treatment options. Now, as a plastic surgeon, I can fine-tune my treatment plan much better to suit every individual patient. The coaching in the program is positive and open minded and treatment options are discussed. In a safe environment your skills are evaluated and perfected as you go along. Now I am already passing on these new techniques to my younger colleagues, making them also profit from this unique experience!”
April 2008
Dr Ioannis Liapakis (Athens, Greece)
“I spent half of my time in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and half of it in Ghent, Belgium. The experience I obtained was indeed very broad and useful for my career in Plastic Surgery. I observed complicated craniofacial procedures, I participated in difficult head and neck reconstructions, I joined experienced Plastic Surgeons very willing to answer all my questions and guide me for the future!
It was one of the most interesting experiences I had and it is something I recommend.
I wish I could do that again. If you are interested for a broad Facial Plastic Surgery fellowship beyond your former residency this is to go for. You can open a door in craniofacial surgery with Dr Van Der Meulen of Rotterdam or learning in depth in cosmetic Plastic Surgery with Dr Tonnard and Dr Verpaele of Ghent. As far as I know this the only one fellowship that you can combine all the aspects of the Facial Plastic Surgery. Again go for it!”
January 2008
Dr Daniel Popescu (Bukarest, Romenia)
“Meaningful Plastic Surgery demonstrated by dedicated and friendly professionals. A truly usehful experience”
August 2007
Dr Pieter Vermeulen (Leuven, Belgium)
“This fellowship of facial plastic surgery allowed me to assist as first assistant or operate myself on a broad spectrum of reconstructive and aesthetic cases. The staff makes it their duty to train you one-on-one; both during consultations and ORs. The atmosphere is Rotterdam city and hospital is the most “American” you can find in Europe : open-minded, innovative and straightforward.”
May 2007
Miss Linda Treharne (Swansea, UK)
“This fellowship gives immense flexibility to suit the fellow’s interest, as there is a large amount of interesting and varied work taking place at the Erasmus Centre in Rotterdam. As my interest is in paediatric plastic surgery, I spent the majority of my time in cleft and craniofacial lists, but the fellowship would also suit someone interested in head and neck reconstruction or aesthetic work. As a non-Dutch speaker, I found my time to be best spent in theatre and have a logbook which reflects this, with 18 cleft cases, 20 craniofacial, 4 facial palsy, 3 microtia and 56 aesthetic cases, amongst others. Not bad in 4 months! I also logged my first “performed under supervision” cleft palate operations – an experience difficult to get in this field.
The plastic surgeons, nurses and staff in Rotterdam are friendly and dynamic and I felt very welcome. All were happy for me to participate in their operating lists.
The opportunity to spend time in Gent with Drs Tonnard and Verpaele is not to be missed. I only spent one month with them but came away with a good understanding of the MACS-lift, as performed by its pioneers. Opportunities for training in aesthetic surgery are hard to come by in the UK and this experience gave me a good understanding of the principles of all aspects of aesthetic surgery by leaders in the field.
I would recommend this fellowship to any senior trainee wishing to further their experience in cleft, craniofacial, aesthetic or head and neck reconstructive surgery. It has helped me to fulfill my ambition and be appointed as a consultant in cleft lip and palate surgery.”
