Improving Medical Student Recruitment into Plastic Surgery: Pairing Orphaned Medical Students with Sister Mentorship Programs.

Abstract

Accessibility to a plastic surgery residency program during medical school can significantly impact a student’s understanding of plastic surgery and enrich his or her experience by providing plastic surgery exposure as well as research opportunities to advance the specialty. For those who choose to pursue postgraduate training in plastic surgery, exposure to a residency program can also provide a “home-field advantage” when applying to Match. For these reasons, medical students who do not have access to a plastic surgery training program are at a significant disadvantage as compared with their peers. Medical students in the United States are enrolled in either allopathic or osteopathic programs. Both are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and graduates of either program are eligible to apply for an integrated or independent residency in plastic surgery. Forty-seven allopathic and 40 osteopathic programs do not have plastic surgery training programs at their institutions.1 This leads to an inconsistent, and often nonexistent, introduction to plastic surgery for approximately 50,000 medical students (57 percent of American medical students).2 Broadening the reach of plastic surgery and encouraging the engagement of these students should be a priority for the plastic surgery academic community. Providing all students an opportunity to evaluate their interests would likely result in a stronger, more diverse cohort of plastic surgery trainees. We believe that creating a system that encourages intentional collaboration between programs with residencies (mentorship) and those without (orphaned) will account for the deficiency of plastic surgery exposure for students from these 87 institutions. To facilitate this, we developed a database that matched each orphaned institution with multiple mentorship programs within reasonable proximity. This database was provided to the American Council of Academic Plastic Surgeons, which then requested plastic surgery program directors and coordinators reach out to their partnered orphaned institutions to offer participation in education, mentorship, and interest groups for eligible students.3 The first step of this process was implemented fairly quickly. Such an initiative would do a service to plastic surgery, so that exposure to the specialty is not restricted to those students who are fortunate enough to be at an institution with a plastic surgery training program. Further directions being undertaken include the administration of a survey to students at these orphaned institutions to ascertain their interest in pursuing plastic surgery, perception of the field, opportunities available at their institution, and concerns with entering the field from a position of relative disadvantage. Preliminary results show comparable populations considering application to residency when compared to schools with residency programs. Intensely positive feedback from these students suggests that their need for a platform is much higher than anticipated. In summary, there is no reason why plastic surgery should not be available to all students as part of their core education. Only then can we mentor and develop the passion for plastic surgery in these students, much as it was done for those of us who have chosen to make it a lifelong career. DISCLOSURE The authors have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article.