Advanced Gender Surgery Fellowship

Blair Peters, M.D., Advanced Gender Surgery Fellowship Director
Blair Peters, M.D., Advanced Gender Surgery Fellowship Program Director

The Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery in collaboration with the Department of Urology offers a 1-year fellowship in Advanced Gender Surgery. The fellow will be exposed to the full breadth of gender surgery with a robust focus on facial and genital gender affirming surgery. The fellowship is unique in that our trainees will also spend significant amount of time with our Urology colleagues and work in close collaboration with the Reconstructive Urology fellow. This exposure is a rare opportunity to learn from surgeons in another field and best prepares fellowship graduates from our program to lead gender-affirming surgery and genital surgery teams.

The fellowship has 5 core faculty with 3 plastic and reconstructive surgeons - Dr. Jens Berli, Dr. Blair Peters and Dr. Monica Llado-Farulla - and 2 reconstructive surgeons - Dr. Daniel Dugi and Dr. Geolani Dy. The fellow will be under the primary mentorship of the fellowship director who will coordinate faculty-led rotations to ensure robust exposure to all aspects of gender-affirming surgical care. The surgical volume in all aspects of gender-affirming surgery at the OHSU Advanced Gender Surgery Fellowship is currently unparalleled.

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Department Faculty

Urology Department Faculty

Core Surgical Curriculum includes: 

  • Facial Gender Affirmation Surgery
  • Chondrolaryngoplasty (“Tracheal Shave”)
  • Chest Affirmation Surgery (all variations of Mastectomy, Chest Masculinization, Breast Reduction and Breast Augmentation)
  • All Stages of Phalloplasty Surgery including Erectile Device and Testicular Implants
  • Simple Metoidioplasty and Metoidioplasty with Urethral Lengthening
  • Open Penile Inversion Vaginoplasty, Robotic Peritoneal Flap  Vaginoplasty and Vulvoplasty 
  • Individualized Surgical Procedures
  • Body Contouring including Liposuction and High Volume Fat Grafting
  • Simple and Complex Revision Surgeries Including Vulvar Revision Surgery, Phalloplasty Fistulas and Strictures, Revision Vaginoplasty (Open and Robotic), Revision Chest and Facial Surgery

Our fellows are also exposed to the full multi-disciplinary aspect of gender-affirming care through interactions and clinical exposure to: primary care, endocrinology, voice and speech, adolescent endocrinology, gynecology, mental health, social work, dermatology (laser and electrolysis) and if desired fertility counseling and treatment. Participation in programmatic building, multi-disciplinary initiatives and community engagement is highly encouraged and readily accessible; as well as involvement in monthly multi-disciplinary care discussions. 

Guided mentorship will ensure that exposure is adjusted throughout the year according to the fellow specific needs and career goals. Diverse faculty experience and interests provides additional opportunities for exposure and collaboration on clinical and basic science research, grant writing, scientific presentations, manuscript publishing, coordinating research teams, peer review and opportunities to partake in various committees and outreach and education initiatives. Graduates will be particularly able to lead new and developing gender-affirming surgery programs as they will have insight into all aspects of gender-affirming care and robust surgical exposure in all aspects of affirming surgery.

    Qualifications:

    • Medical Degree
    • Completion or anticipated completion of ACGME accredited Plastic Surgery Residency
    • Broad exposure in residency to Microsurgery, Facial Trauma and Aesthetic Surgery
    • Board Eligibility in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

    How to apply

    To apply, please email your CV, 2 letters of recommendation and personal statement to our Program Coordinator. 

    Applications are currently being accepted through March 1, 2024 via email and interviews will be held in April/May. Our interviews and match day are aligned with other academic gender surgical fellowships, so that applicants can apply broadly and evaluate all programs. 

    Program Director

    Dr. Blair Peters

    As of 2024, Blair Peters, M.D., directs the Advanced Gender Surgery Fellowship. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Department of Urology. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Manitoba, Canada. Following this, he undertook residency training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Manitoba with a special interest and exposure to Microsurgery. Subsequently, Dr. Peters completed fellowship in Peripheral Nerve, Hand and Microsurgery at the prestigious Washington University in St Louis. Following this, they became the first fellow in Advanced Gender Surgery at OHSU in 2020. He is board certified by both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

    His unique training background, clinical research, advocacy work and community background have quickly established him as a leader in the field of Gender-Affirming Surgery. His core goals are innovation and improvement of outcomes and accessibility of care. His unique training in peripheral nerve surgery allows for a particularly nuanced exposure to sensory innervation and nerve considerations in gender surgery with novel exposure to sensory rehabilitation protocols and centering of sexual function in operative planning.

    Since 2021, Dr. Peters has been a faculty member at Oregon Health & Science University. They predominantly focuses on genital surgery and have a robust practice in phalloplasty, robotic vaginoplasty and vulvoplasty. His practice is rounded out with a high volume of gender-affirming chest surgery, breast augmentation, body contouring and head to toe peripheral nerve surgery. In addition to directing the Advanced Gender Surgery Fellowship, he has been entrusted with the responsibility of Research Director for the Division since 2021. He has served as surgical lead for the United States Professional Association of Transgender Health (USPATH) meeting, was selected as the 2023 National John Fryer Lecture in LGBTQ+ Health and is a frequent nationally and internationally invited lecturer having served as Visiting Professor for many prestigious institutions across the United States and Canada.

    In terms of professional affiliations, Dr. Peters is a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, American Society of Peripheral Nerve Surgery, American Society of Plastic Surgeons and Sexual Medicine Society of North America. He serves on the Editorial Board for "Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open” and publishes frequently on sensory outcomes in gender-affirming surgery, genital surgery techniques, nerve transfers and work on LGBTQ+ representation in medicine.

    Dr. Peters' top priority is the highest possible degree of competency of the graduating OHSU Gender Surgery Fellows to increase access to top quality gender-affirming care for Transgender community.