The NMC curriculum list, reproduced exactly, plus the editions residents actually read in 2026 — with journals, a year-wise reading plan, and the references you will need for your thesis and exit practical.
Sitting the DrNB instead? The same superspecialty is covered at DrNB Plastic Surgery books.
These 15 titles are reproduced as they appear in the National Medical Commission curriculum document for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery — spelling and abbreviations included. Treat it as the scope anchor, not as a shopping list.
Source: National Medical Commission curriculum document for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
The books most residents actually buy. These are the editions in circulation now, with a note on whether each is something you read through, keep as a reference, or open only for the viva.
Journal club and the recent-advances parts of the theory paper come from here. You do not need all of them — follow one Indian and two international titles properly.
Three years of superspecialty training goes faster than it sounds, and most of it is spent on the floor. The order below is what works for most MCh Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery residents.
McGregor for principles and Acland's manual with daily microsurgery lab practice; Grabb and Smith read cover to cover; burns management from Sarabahi/Herndon during the burns posting; register the thesis protocol.
Neligan volume by volume matched to rotations (craniofacial, hand, breast, aesthetic, lower limb); Green's for hand; Wei and Mardini plus Grabb's Encyclopedia for flap work; thesis data collection and paper submission.
Second pass of Grabb and Smith and Karoon Agrawal for Indian practice patterns, aesthetic surgery reading, then intensive mock long/short cases, clinical photograph discussion and osteology/instrument spots.
Protocol, methodology and reporting standards examiners expect you to have followed.
Cases, spotters and stations that come up again and again in the exit exam.
The NMC guideline specifies four theory papers: Paper I general principles and basic sciences relevant to plastic and reconstructive surgery; Paper II burns, cleft and craniofacial, micro-neurovascular and brachial plexus, hand and upper extremity surgery; Paper III aesthetic surgery, head and neck, breast, trunk, genitalia and lower limb surgery; Paper IV recent advances. The clinical examination comprises one long case, two to three short cases and ward rounds on four cases, with a viva covering surgical planning, operative procedures, instruments, radiology, osteology and photograph-based case discussion. Eligibility requires a completed logbook plus conference presentations and indexed journal publications.
The National Medical Commission curriculum for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery lists 15 titles, beginning with Neligan, Peter C. Text book of Plastic surgery. Elsevier.. The full list is reproduced on this page exactly as it is published.
Plastic Surgery (6 vols) by Peter C. Neligan is the usual anchor. The primary multi-volume reference; NMC names it first.
MCh Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is a superspecialty course taken after a broad-specialty MD, MS or DNB, so the reading is narrower and deeper. The broad-specialty texts are assumed knowledge by the time you start.
No. Most residents own two or three and use the department or library copy for the rest. That is exactly why printing selected chapters from a PDF works out cheaper than buying volumes you will open twice.
We print from the PDF you send us. Send the file on WhatsApp with your page count and whether you want colour, black and white or mixed, and we print, bind and deliver anywhere in India. We do not supply copyrighted book files.
Black and white is 50 paise a page, colour is Rs 1 a page, and binding is Rs 40 per bound volume. A 400-page mixed set with binding usually works out around Rs 300 plus delivery.
Send the PDF on WhatsApp — colour Rs 1/page, B&W 50p/page, binding Rs 40. Printed, bound and delivered anywhere in India.
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