01 · Frame
Define the defect before naming the operation.
State the patient’s goals, missing tissue, contamination, recipient environment, functional requirements, and constraints. A named flap is not yet a plan.
Goal · tissue · environment
Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery oral boards
Plastic Surgery Oral Boards. Defend the plan. Own every case.
Practice voice-first Theory and Practice cases, describe operations, manage complications, and rehearse your own de-identified case reports with examiner follow-up and structured feedback.
3
45-minute sessions
5
selected case reports
Voice
examiner follow-up
Elite
personal uploads
Independent educational preparation. No secure ABPS content, no official score prediction, and no PHI in Personal Case Uploads.
Theory & Practice
Examiner listening
Reconstructive problem
Abstract educational visualization—not patient imagery.
Examiner
What are your reconstructive goals, your first choice, and the finding that would make you abandon it?
Candidate
I will first define the missing tissue, contamination, recipient vessels, and functional endpoint. My primary plan is…
Answer in progress
Goal · plan · alternative · rescue
Adaptive follow-up
The next question follows your plan.
Personal Case Uploads
Rehearse the cases only you performed.
1 + 2
exam sessions
45 min
each session
5
selected cases
Built around the current public ABPS examination structure
One Case Report Session and two Theory and Practice Sessions, each 45 minutes, with five cases selected from the candidate's approved case list.
A narrative preparation system
Train the examination as a sequence of decisions—not a stack of notes.
Scroll through the preparation loop: match the session, speak the plan, own the personal case, and rescue the complication.
Reconstructive reasoning map
Goal · tissue · environment
Start with the reconstructive problem, not a memorized procedure.
Reconstructive reasoning map
Goal · tissue · environment
Start with the reconstructive problem, not a memorized procedure.
02 · Commit
Choose one safe primary plan—and defend the tradeoffs.
Explain why the plan fits this patient, what anatomy and resources it requires, the donor-site cost, and what would make you choose a different reconstructive rung or elevator.
Plan · alternative · endpoint
03 · Rescue
Recognize the turn before the reconstruction is lost.
When physiology, perfusion, infection, airway, hematoma, or wound behavior changes, stabilize first, identify the mechanism, and state a definitive rescue threshold.
Recognize · stabilize · salvage
04 · Own
Defend your personal case without polishing away the truth.
Recall the actual indication, photographs, consent, operative sequence, outcome, complication, economics, ethics, and what you would do differently—using only de-identified material.
Record · outcome · reflection
The preparation advantage no generic bank can replicate
Practice the cases only you can be asked to own.
The ABPS case-report component is built from the candidate's own selected cases. Personal Case Uploads turn a fully de-identified educational reconstruction of those decisions into repeated, examiner-style oral defense.
A generic simulator can test flap selection or complication management. It cannot know why you chose this operation, what the intraoperative finding was, what the photographs show, how the outcome evolved, or what you learned—unless you safely provide the de-identified facts.
Candidate-specific examiner probes
Randomized case selection
Operation and image defense
Complication and lifeboat rehearsal
Structured factual-gap detection
Private, PHI-free educational workflow
Never upload official case reports, source records, consents, original photographs, exact dates, medical record numbers, or any other protected health information. SurgiTest is not the ABPS submission portal.
Personal case workspace
De-identified case 03 · Reconstruction
Step 01
Verify the case
Reconstruct indication, operation, outcome, complication, and follow-up from authorized source records before de-identification.
Step 02
Remove every identifier
Create a separate educational synopsis with no names, exact dates, record numbers, facilities, identifiable images, or indirect PHI clues.
Step 03
Upload the synopsis
Organize the case around presentation, goals, alternatives, operative choices, photographs described in words, outcome, and lifeboats.
Step 04
Defend it repeatedly
Answer randomized examiner probes by voice until the facts, judgment, technical sequence, and reflection remain stable under pressure.
Examiner probe deck
01
Why was this patient an appropriate candidate?
02
What alternative did you seriously consider?
03
Describe the operation as it actually occurred.
Ready for randomized defense
Indication, operation, image narrative, outcome, complication, ethics, and follow-up verified by the candidate.
Current examination guide
Prepare for three sessions—and one combined performance.
The same candidate must show broad clinical judgment in unfamiliar problems and exact, honest ownership of selected personal cases.
01
Theory & Practice
First 45-minute session
Reason through unfamiliar clinical problems, commit to a plan, describe treatment, and manage early and late complications.
02
Theory & Practice
Second 45-minute session
Demonstrate consistent breadth, depth, safety, ethics, and problem solving across the scope of plastic surgery.
03
Case Report
45 minutes · selected personal cases
Defend your own evaluation, operation, alternatives, outcome, complications, ethics, and report organization.
Current case-list cadence
Nine months of case collection. Five selected reports. One high-stakes personal-case defense.
Current public ABPS materials describe a July 1 through March 31 collection period and a minimum of 50 major operative cases, with preoperative, intraoperative, and 90-day-or-later postoperative photography requirements. Requirements change; verify the current Booklet and candidate account.
Specialty breadth
Reconstructive judgment across the full clinical landscape.
Original cases emphasize transferable decisions: patient selection, defect analysis, operative execution, complications, ethics, and lifeboats—not recalled secure examination content.
Skin, soft tissue & wounds
Oncologic defects, exposed structures, pressure injury, infection, debridement, durable coverage, and salvage.
Breast & trunk
Implant and autologous reconstruction, oncoplastic decisions, aesthetics, abdominal wall, and revision.
Hand & upper extremity
Tendon, nerve, fracture, replantation, infection, ischemia, stiffness, coverage, and rehabilitation.
Microsurgery & flaps
Defect analysis, flap and vessel selection, anastomosis, monitoring, take-back, donor morbidity, and lifeboats.
Craniofacial & head and neck
Airway, growth, skeletal and soft-tissue reconstruction, occlusion, facial function, and multidisciplinary timing.
Aesthetic surgery
Selection, expectations, ethics, markings, operative safety, complications, dissatisfaction, and revision.
Burns & thermal injury
Airway and resuscitation, excision, coverage, hand burns, contracture, therapy, and staged reconstruction.
Personal case defense
Candidate-specific indication, operation, images, outcome, complication, reflection, ethics, and factual ownership.
Complete preparation library
Eleven deep guides. One connected preparation system.
Each guide has unique search metadata, structured data, official sources, internal links, mobile-first reading, and a direct path into the appropriate practice mode.
12-week preparation arc
Progress from structure to full combined performance.
Build catalog breadth and personal-case ownership in parallel, then integrate them into realistic 45-minute sessions and a protected exam-week taper.
Open the 12-week planPreparation timeline
Four progressive phases
1
Structure & documentation
Weeks 1–3Baseline voice cases, answer architecture, case-list audit, and de-identified dossier creation
2
Breadth & first full sessions
Weeks 4–6Domain rotation, operative drills, complications, and 45-minute Theory practice
3
Personal cases & lifeboats
Weeks 7–9Cold case-report defense, aesthetic ethics, late complications, and rescue
4
Integration & taper
Weeks 10–12Three-session simulations, targeted repair, logistics, sleep, and recovery
Built around oral defense
Every feature answers a specific preparation problem.
Think aloud under pressure
Voice-first case defense
Speak the decision chain rather than recognizing the answer silently. The examiner follows your reasoning and asks the next question.
Commit to one plan
Adaptive examiner follow-up
Defend patient selection, reconstructive goals, operative choice, alternatives, and the threshold that would make you pivot.
Interpret case images
Image-aware simulation
Practice describing wounds, defects, preoperative findings, operative anatomy, postoperative outcomes, and complications.
Treat the complication
Progressive deterioration
The case changes after the ideal plan. Recognize instability, stabilize, diagnose efficiently, rescue, and declare the lifeboat.
Own what actually happened
Personal Case Uploads
Build a private, fully de-identified educational dossier from your own cases and rehearse randomized examiner probes.
Know what to repair next
Transparent feedback
Review specific evidence across diagnosis, planning, management, technique, complications, judgment, safety, and ethics.
Transparent educational feedback
See the behavior behind the recommendation.
SurgiTest feedback is independent practice guidance—not the official ABPS score, confidential weighting, or a pass prediction.
Diagnosis / planning
Management / treatment
Operative communication
Early complications
Late complications
Outcome & reflection
Safety
Ethics / professionalism
Clear boundaries
Plastic surgery oral boards questions, answered directly.
Official format facts are sourced to ABPS. Product capabilities, practice frameworks, and limitations are stated separately.
Read our editorial standardsWhat is the current ABPS Oral Examination format?
The current ABPS public materials describe one 45-minute Case Report Session and two 45-minute Theory and Practice Sessions. The three sessions are treated as one examination, and candidates are evaluated on their combined performance.
How are personal cases used in the Plastic Surgery oral boards?
Candidates submit a nine-month case list. If the list is accepted, ABPS selects five cases for formal case reports. The Case Report Session may examine the candidate’s evaluation, operation, alternatives, outcome, complications, and ethical or economic issues in those cases.
Can SurgiTest replace the official ABPS case-report portal?
No. SurgiTest Personal Case Uploads are an independent rehearsal tool only. They do not submit material to ABPS, satisfy a Board requirement, or replace the official Clinical Case Log and case-report process.
What may I upload to Personal Case Uploads?
Only fully de-identified educational material. Remove names, dates, record numbers, facility identifiers, image metadata, recognizable faces, unique tattoos, and any other protected health information before upload. Never upload an unredacted medical record.
Does SurgiTest use official or recalled ABPS questions?
No. SurgiTest uses original educational scenarios and does not reproduce, solicit, or distribute secure examination content. The public ABPS format and scoring descriptions inform the preparation experience, not the content of protected exam cases.
Does SurgiTest predict whether I will pass?
No. SurgiTest provides transparent educational feedback and practice trends. It does not reproduce ABPS psychometrics, calculate an official score, or guarantee a certification result.
Elite annual · $499/year
Build the repetition your plastic surgery oral boards demand.
Unlimited catalog case practice, Personal Case Uploads, premium feedback, analytics, daily learning briefs, flash cards, and a personalized reading guide.
SurgiTest is an independent educational platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. It does not reproduce secure examination content or predict official pass/fail outcomes. Board requirements and schedules may change; candidates should confirm current information directly with ABPS. Personal case material must be fully de-identified and must not contain protected health information.