Characteristics of Successful Integrated Plastic Surgery Applicants from US Allopathic Medical Schools without a Home Integrated Program

Self Cite

Summary Matching into plastic and reconstructive surgery residency, whether integrated or independent, is a competitive process. This article serves to examine, review, and summarize data published on both residency application processes. Through the results summarized, applicants should carefully review the objective and subjective factors used in evaluation to strategize how to make themselves as competitive as possible. Specifically, though, early review of the data presented may allow applicants time to focus on what modifiable factors still remain before their respective application seasons.

“… 18 Students without home programs often then seek out opportunities with plastic surgery faculty outside their home institution. 19 …”

Section: Overview Of the Integrated Matchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Overview Of the Integrated Matchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Matching into Plastic Surgery: Insights into the Data

Sarac

Janis

2022

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“…Second, we were unable to comprehensively study if an integrated plastic surgery program was present at the medical school of these trainees while they were medical students, which also may be advantageous to their pre-residency research productivity. 36 Third, research published during each stage of the plastic surgery training pathway may not necessarily reflect research conducted at that specific stage. To account for this, we attributed all publications from the last year of each stage of training to that particular stage, where the bulk of the research was most likely conducted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disparities in Research during Plastic Surgery Training: How Can We Level the Playing Field?

Murphy

Mellia

Iaconetti

et al. 2022

Background: Lack of female and ethnically underrepresented in medicine (UIM) surgeons remains concerning in academic plastic surgery. One barrier to inclusion may be unequal opportunity to publish research. This study evaluates the extent of this challenge for plastic surgery trainees and identifies potential solutions. Methods: Data were collected on academic plastic surgeons' research productivity during training. Bivariate analysis compared publication measures between genders and race/ethnicities at different training stages (pre-residency/residency/ clinical fellowship). Multivariate analysis determined training experiences independently associated with increased research productivity. Results: Overall, women had fewer total publications than men during training (8.89 versus 12.46, P = 0.0394). Total publications were similar between genders before and during residency (P > 0.05 for both) but lower for women during fellowship (1.32 versus 2.48, P = 0.0042). Women had a similar number of first-author publications during training (3.97 versus 5.24, P = 0.1030) but fewer middle-author publications (4.70 versus 6.81, P = 0.0405). UIM and non-UIM individuals had similar productivity at all training stages and authorship positions (P > 0.05 for all). Research fellowship completion was associated with increased total, first-, and middle-author training publications (P < 0.001 for all). Conclusions: Less research productivity for female plastic surgery trainees may reflect a disparity in opportunity to publish. Fewer middle-author publications could indicate challenges with network-building in a predominately male field. Despite comparable research productivity during training relative to non-UIM individuals, UIM individuals remain underrepresented in academic plastic surgery. Creating research fellowships for targeting underrepresented groups could help overcome these challenges.

“…This exploration is especially important for students without home programs who often rely on external opportunities for specialty exposure. 32 Our study demonstrates that opportunities within national organizations are limited. We hope to spark a discussion in the academic plastic surgery community about how to improve these opportunities for medical students and to nurture an informed pool of applicants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Medical Students’ Exposure to Plastic Surgery: A Cross-sectional Review of Scholarly and Academic Opportunities

Antezana

Xie

Weissler

et al. 2022

Background: Specialty exposure is most influential in a medical student’s decision to pursue plastic surgery training. We aimed to understand what opportunities exist for students through national plastic surgery organizations. Methods: The American Board of Plastic Surgery, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and The Aesthetic Society provide online lists of related organizations. Cross-referencing lists yielded 47 unique organizations. Screening for presence of annual meeting and relevance to student and resident education yielded 14 organizations. Bylaws/web-domains were reviewed for information related to the annual meeting, leadership opportunities, membership, grants, and travel scholarships. If available, previrtual/in-person and virtual meeting prices were collected. Lastly, discrepancies between webpage information and phone/email correspondence were noted. Results: All (100%) organizations welcomed students at annual meetings. Eleven promoted student presentation/submission. Average student registration fee was $109.3 ± SD$136.5 compared with $181.20 ± SD$157.20 for residents. Of organizations providing previrtual and virtual pricing (n = 10, 71.4%), there was an average price reduction in student registration of $92 (range: $0–375). Average student membership was $31.70/year ± SD $45.50 compared with $38.80 per year ± SD $65.90 for residents. The percentages of organizations offering student research grants, travel scholarships, and national student leadership were 21.4% (n = 3), 35.8% (n = 5), and 28.6% (n = 4) respectively. No organizations had student chapters/committees. All organizations (100%) contained at least one discrepancy between webpage/bylaw and email/phone. Conclusions: Our results suggest that although national opportunities seem to be limited, a role exists for further engagement, with interested students eager to take the initiative. Virtual conferences present a lower-cost alternative for students and residents.