13. PREPPED: Plastic Surgery Research, Education, and Preparation Promoting Equity and Diversity

Abstract

Background: Addressing healthcare disparities in plastic surgery requires improving physician workforce diversity. Evidence has emerged that despite an interest in plastic surgery, minority applicants face bias, socioeconomic barriers, and lower access to mentors that results in overall lower matriculation into plastic surgery. This study describes the creation and initial outcomes of the PREPPED (Plastic Surgery Research, Education, and Preparation Promoting Equity and Diversity) course, aimed at supporting under-represented students with their transition to sub-interns and residency applicants. Methods: The PREPPED course was a 2-day course hosted in San Diego, CA in 2022. Students received a 40-question survey both before and after the event. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis was performed. Results: Forty students participated, of which 72.7% identified as ethnically under-represented in medicine (UIM) and 48.5% of students did not have a home integrated plastic surgery program. Students reported significantly greater confidence describing a successful sub-intern and understanding the plastic surgery residency application process following the event (p<0.001). Students were significantly more comfortable identifying resources in plastic surgery education and identifying at least 3 mentors in the field following the event (p<0.001). Students showed significant improvement in the post PREPPED assessment in all subspecialties (p<0.05) except for the hand category, which trended towards improvement but was not significant (p=0.10) Conclusion: The PREPPED program is a promising avenue to improve recruitment of UIM students into plastic surgery. Further investigation as well as future PREPPED events will elucidate how this program may be effective in improving sub-internship performance and match outcomes.