Effectiveness of a 1-Hour Event on Medical Students' Perceptions of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Abstract

While the broad diversity of procedures is a hallmark of plastic surgery that attracts many young trainees, the extensive breadth of the specialty can lead to dramatic misunderstandings about the scope of practice of plastic surgeons by both the public and medical professionals alike.1 As the field of plastic surgery is amid a national transition toward integrated residency programs, it is important now more than ever to expose medical students to plastic surgery early in their education. Medical schools have the unique and critical task of educating future physicians on the scope of surgical subspecialties. However, plastic surgery inclusion in medical education curricula is minimal to absent at most medical schools.2,3 We therefore recruited 31 medical students to participate in a 1-hour lecture and complete prelecture and postlecture questionnaires to determine their understanding of a career in plastic surgery and plastic surgery procedures. We found that a 1-hour educational course is effective in improving medical students’ knowledge of plastic surgery procedures. Before the intervention, students associated plastic surgery most highly with cosmetic procedures and reconstructive procedures of the breast. After the intervention, there was a statistically significant increase in students correctly identifying that “bread and butter” procedures, such as free flaps, carpal tunnel releases, orbital floor fractures, and hand tendon lacerations, are frequently treated by plastic surgeons (p < 0.05) (Fig. 1). There was also a 15.2 percent increase in participants who considered plastic surgery to be a “lifesaving” field of medicine (p < 0.05). In examining perceptions of a plastic surgery career, there was a 12.1 percent increase after the lecture in choosing lifestyle as an appealing aspect of the specialty (p < 0.05), while there were no significant changes in any of the negative perceptions studied (competitiveness, lack of relatable role models, demanding training, and so on) (Fig. 2). Despite these findings, there was no associated increase in interest in pursuing plastic surgery as a career after the event.Fig. 1.: Change in correctly identifying procedures and pathologies as related to plastic surgery.Fig. 2.: Change in perceptions of plastic surgery as career.Prior studies have attempted to quantify baseline plastic surgery medical student knowledge and provide education about the specialty via emailed surveys and 1-day courses that included presentations and surgical skills practice.4,5 Some of this work, although important, took place in the United Kingdom, where medical and surgical training is structured differently than in the United States.5 This 1-day format is likely not feasible to be incorporated into the already-dense U.S. medical school curriculum. Our study demonstrates the importance of establishing surgical subspecialty education early in medical school, especially given the trend toward integrated training programs. The lecture event provided adequate education about the procedures involved in plastic surgery, which will be valuable for all future physicians with regard to making appropriate referrals and consultations. However, a 1-hour event may fall short in recruiting medical students to plastic surgery careers. In our anecdotal experience, many plastic surgery departments or divisions host little more than an annual medical student interest group lecture in an effort to attract students to our field. To achieve this goal will likely require surgical subspecialties to be more inventive and creative in how they engage students and introduce them to their fields. DISCLOSURE The authors have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article.