Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Columbia University Irving Medical Center New York Presbyterian Hospital, Herbert Irving Pavilion, 5th Floor, 161 Fort Washington Avenue, New York, NY 10032, United States.
Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Columbia University Irving Medical Center New York Presbyterian Hospital, Herbert Irving Pavilion, 5th Floor, 161 Fort Washington Avenue, New York, NY 10032, United States.
J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2023 Dec;87:205-207. doi: 10.1016/j.bjps.2023.10.090. Epub 2023 Oct 14.
Given the lack of formal education on plastic surgery services during the preclinical years of medical school, many medical students commonly misunderstand the breadth and depth of the field. Shadowing is highly impactful in shaping students' desire to pursue surgery, but the impact of plastic surgery shadowing remains unexplored. The study design utilized an anonymous web-based survey containing questions surrounding prior interest in surgery, race, gender, medical school progress, and clinical versus OR shadowing. All medical students who participated in an ongoing, voluntary plastic surgery shadowing program over a two-year period were invited to complete the survey. Of the 54 students who shadowed during the study period, 43 (79.6%) returned the survey. Students reported an overall greater impact of OR shadowing than clinic shadowing on their interest in plastic surgery, approaching significance (p = 0.0527). On simple and multivariate regression, the number of times a student shadowed in the OR was the only statistically significant predictor of students' interest in plastic surgery (p = 0.0003). In general, the majority of students reported that their shadowing experience "significantly increased" (24.2%) or "somewhat increased" (45.5%) their interest in pursuing a career in plastic surgery. The impact of shadowing, particularly in the operating room, on students' interest in plastic surgery demonstrates the value of structured shadowing programs. Additionally, given the particularly influential effect of shadowing in the operating room, our results indicate that efforts may benefit most from facilitating student exposure to the hands-on aspects of the field.
鉴于医学生在临床医学前几年缺乏对整形外科学服务的正规教育，许多医学生普遍对该领域的广度和深度存在误解。跟随实习对塑造学生对手术的兴趣具有重要影响，但整形外科学跟随实习的影响仍未得到探索。本研究设计采用了一项匿名的网络调查，其中包含有关手术前兴趣、种族、性别、医学院进展以及临床与手术室跟随实习的问题。邀请在两年期间参加正在进行的自愿整形外科学跟随实习计划的所有医学生完成调查。在研究期间进行跟随实习的 54 名学生中，有 43 名（79.6%）返回了调查。学生报告说，手术室跟随实习对他们对整形外科学的兴趣的影响总体上大于诊所跟随实习，接近显著水平（p=0.0527）。在简单和多元回归中，学生在手术室跟随实习的次数是唯一具有统计学意义的预测学生对整形外科学兴趣的因素（p=0.0003）。总的来说，大多数学生报告说他们的跟随实习经历“显著增加”（24.2%）或“略有增加”（45.5%）了他们对从事整形外科学职业的兴趣。跟随实习，特别是在手术室，对学生对整形外科学兴趣的影响表明了结构化跟随实习计划的价值。此外，鉴于跟随实习在手术室中的特别有影响力的效果，我们的结果表明，努力从促进学生接触该领域的实践方面可能会受益最多。
