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Dr. Heather Schopper, facial plastic and reconstructive fellow; Dr. Jessyka Lighthall, fellowship program director; chief resident Dr. Nicole Ruszkay; and Dr. Alyssa Givens, PGY-2 otolaryngology resident, perform reconstructive surgery.
The Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship is a brand-new training opportunity that covers the breadth of academic facial plastic surgery. Fellows will be exposed to both reconstructive and cosmetic cases of the face, head and neck. Depending on the fellow’s specific interests, there will be opportunities to enrich learning within craniofacial surgery (cleft lip and palate), oculoplastic surgery, and advanced head and neck reconstructive surgery.
Because this fellowship incorporates all areas of reconstructive and cosmetic facial plastic surgery, the fellow will be able to tailor their training to their individual interests and career aspirations. There will also be opportunities to mentor both medical students and residents and to perform research in an area of their interest.
One of the unique features of this program is the multidisciplinary nature in which the fellow can spend time with colleagues in plastic surgery, oculoplastic surgery and cosmetic dermatology. We also will have the fellow see patients in our multidisciplinary cosmetic clinic, where the fellow will have half a day of clinic per week. The fellow will also be involved in both clinical and surgical treatment of facial nerve disorders through our collaborative facial nerve disorders clinic.
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The fellow will be appointed as a clinical instructor and blend learning with clinical responsibilities within all realms of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery.
The weekly schedule will be tailored to the fellow’s needs, but would include a half day of fellow cosmetic clinic, one to two days per month of facial nerve clinic and one to two days per month of academic facial plastic surgery clinic. The remainder of the time will be spent between the Hershey Medical Center campus and Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center enriching their skills in the operating, both as a primary and first-assist surgeon.
Autonomy will vary depending on the complexity of the case and overall training progression of the fellow.
In addition, the fellow will have opportunities to observe craniofacial cases, in addition to, oculoplastic cases depending on scheduling.
Interested applicants can find the full application details on the AAFPRS Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery webpage and submit the application with all required materials. Applications should be submitted by Feb. 1 of the academic year two years prior to the fellowship; for instance, applications for fellowships starting July 2024 will apply in 2022-2023.
Humanitarian outreach trips not only provide critical care for patients, who may travel for days to receive treatment, but are also a deeply fulfilling endeavor for the our attending physicians and fellows. The Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery has completed surgical mission trips to Peru, Ecuador and Ukraine, and will be heading to Zimbabwe in the new year.
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Penn State Health
Penn State Health is an integrated academic health system serving patients and communities across 15 counties in central Pennsylvania. It employs more than 20,900 people systemwide.
The system includes Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Health Children’s Hospital and Penn State Cancer Institute based in Hershey, Pa.; Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center in Enola, Pa.; Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill, Pa.; Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center in Lancaster, Pa.; Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, Pa.; Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, a specialty provider of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, in Harrisburg, Pa.; and 2,417 physicians and direct care providers at 225 outpatient practices. Additionally, the system jointly operates various healthcare providers, including Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital, Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center and Hershey Endoscopy Center.
In 2017, Penn State Health partnered with Highmark Health to facilitate creation of a value-based, community care network in the region.
Penn State Health shares an integrated strategic plan and operations with Penn State College of Medicine, the University’s medical school. With campuses in State College and Hershey, Pa., the College of Medicine boasts a portfolio of more than $150 million in funded research and more than 1,700 students and trainees in medicine, nursing, other health professions and biomedical research.
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Penn State Health Children’s Hospital (left), Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (center) and Penn State Cancer Institute (right)
Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
500 University Dr., Hershey, Pa., 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)
- The health system’s 611-bed flagship teaching and research hospital
- The only medical facility in Pennsylvania accredited as both an adult and a pediatric Level I (highest-level) trauma center
- Dedicated surgical, neuroscience, cardiovascular, trauma and medical intensive care units
- Accredited Life Lion critical-care transport providing more than 1,100 helicopter and approximately 750 ground ambulance transports per year
- More than 1,300 faculty members and more than 650 residents and fellows
- Approximately 29,000 admissions, 73,000 emergency department visits, 1.1 million outpatient visits and 33,000 surgical procedures annually
- Designated as a Magnet hospital since 2007
Learn more about Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Penn State Health Children’s Hospital
600 University Dr., Hershey, Pa. 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)
- An eight-story, 263,000-square-foot-facility built in 2013 and expanded in 2020
- 160 licensed pediatric beds, 26-bed pediatric intensive care unit and a 56-bed neonatal intensive care unit
- Level IV (highest-level) neonatal intensive care unit
- Level I quaternary (highest-level) pediatric intensive care unit
- Level I (highest-level) pediatric trauma center designation
- Intermediate care unit
- Dedicated pediatric operating rooms
- More than 150,000 pediatric outpatient visits, 20,000 pediatric emergency room visits, and approximately 5,000 pediatric patient discharges annually
Welcome to Hershey
More About Hershey
Interested in learning more about living and working in Hershey, Pa.? See details here:
Wellness, including emotional, spiritual, social and physical health, is a crucial component to training and to becoming a professional, compassionate and resilient physician. Self-care is a skill which must be continually practiced and reinforced. Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health are committed to addressing wellness among residents and fellows, with multiple resources readily available.
Institutional resources
- Visit BeWell – a health program designed to support Penn State Health employees
- See Penn State College of Medicine wellness resources here
- Employee Health Care Concierge and Case Management Service
- Partners in Medicine
Moving to a new city with your family does not have to be stressful. Residency programs have assisted many significant others with finding employment. There is also a GME-Wide Partners in Medicine (PIM) group that offers networking opportunities as well as various social and community oriented activities. - The Doctors Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine
- Active and easily accessed Office of Professional Mental Health
Graduate medical education resources
Institutional Resources
Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine celebrate, embrace and support the diversity of all patients, faculty, staff, students and trainees.
Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
In keeping with this, Penn State Health has an active Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with various programs, networks and resource groups, including:
- Talks and lectures on diversity, equity and inclusion through the Inclusion Academy
- Regular events on topics such as eradicating racism and creating a culture of inclusiveness
- Many Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs), including:
- Disability Business Employee Resource Group
- Interfaith Business Employee Resource Group
- LGBTQ+ Business Employee Resource Group
- Military and Veterans Business Employee Resource Group
- Multicultural Business Employee Resource Group
- NextGen Business Employee Resource Group
- Black Physician Professional Staff Association – Resource Group
- Hispanic Professional Association
- Asian Physician and Professional Staff Association
- International Workforce Inclusion
- Inclusion Academy
Learn more about the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Learn more about the College of Medicine’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Belonging
Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education
The vision at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health is to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they will need to provide culturally excellent health care and research for an increasingly diverse U.S. population. The Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education was formed to help meet that goal.
Learn more about the Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education
Office for a Respectful Learning Environment
In addition, the institution does not tolerate discrimination, biases, microaggression, harassment or learner mistreatment of any kind, and any concerns are immediately addressed by the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment.
Learn more about the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment
Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows
The Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows (NURF) is a group of diverse residents and fellows representing all specialties. NURF’s goal is to promote cultural diversity in the residency programs through community involvement, mentorship with diverse faculty, professional networking and support for the recruitment of diverse medical students into the residency programs.
NURF is sponsored by the Penn State College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education Office and the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Latest News from Otolaryngology
Program Leadership
Jessyka Lighthall, MD, FACS
Program Director
Scott Walen, MD, FRCSC
Program Co-Director
