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CC BY 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2024; 51(02): 251-257
DOI: 10.1055/a-2219-2411
Research/Experimental
Original Article

Medical Students Understanding of The Scope of Plastic Surgery

Mohammad K.H.B. Abdulaziz 
1   Department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, Warwickshire, United Kingdom
2   Department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital Coventry, Coventry, United Kingdom
,
Mohammad Al-Jamali 
4   Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
,
Sundus Al-Mazidi 
3   Department of Plastic Surgery, Al-Babtain Center for Plastic and Burn Surgery, Kuwait City, Kuwait
,
Sarah Albuloushi 
5   Department of Opthalmology, Al-Bahar Center for Opthalmology, Kuwait City, Kuwait
,
Ahmad B. Al-Ali 
3   Department of Plastic Surgery, Al-Babtain Center for Plastic and Burn Surgery, Kuwait City, Kuwait
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Background Plastic surgery has developed to benefit in a variety of challenging areas formerly handled by other disciplines. Medical students do not have a clear picture of plastic surgery as a career due to lacking scope, clinical practice, and understanding of plastic surgery as a clinical area of expertise, including general practitioners, nursing staff, medical trainees, and the general public, and misconceptions about the extent of reconstructive and plastic surgery.

Methods A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on Kuwait University Medical students (2nd–7th Years) over a period of 1 month. A questionnaire and a consent form were provided to eligible students. The inclusion criteria were Kuwait University Medical students from 2nd to 7th Years with signed consent form. The response was collected via email sent in coordination with the Vice Dean of Student Affairs in the Faculty of Medicine. Using statistical package for the social sciences, responses were statistically analyzed. Pearson's chi-square test was used to calculate p-values, where p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results A total of 244 eligible medical students, 121 males and 123 females, were included in the study, with a mean age of 21 (±2) years. Similarly, 126 (51.6%) were preclinical students (2nd–4th-year students), while 118 (48.4%) were clinical students (5th–7th-year students). About 79.8% of medical students believed that plastic surgery plays an essential role in trauma management, whereas 9.2% did not consider plastic surgery significant for trauma management. This study found that only 15.5% of medical students were interested in enrolling in plastic surgery residency after graduation, while 47.1% of students did not consider plastic surgery residency after graduation. However, 37.4% were uncertain. The two most driving factors in deciding on plastic surgery residency were expected income (61.8%) and lifestyle (14.3%).

Conclusion Improving medical students' education quality can enhance their perception and awareness of plastic surgery. Students should be taught the broader scope of plastic surgery. The inclusion of formal training during undergraduation is the essence of time and should be added to or improved during plastic surgery rotations with more emphasis on reconstructive and hand/peripheral nerve surgery. Student-led interest groups can be a useful tool for educating students about their specialty.

Keywords

plastic surgery - medical students - general surgery - ophthalmology - orthopaedic - ENT - neurosurgery - maxillofacial surgery

Authors' Contributions

M.K.H.B.A.: Introduction, methods, data analysis, discussion

M.Al-J.: Data analysis, methods

S.Al-M.: Data collection

S.A.: Data collection

A.B.Al-A.: Discussion.


Ethical Approval

The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board.


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 22 March 2023

Accepted: 24 November 2023

Accepted Manuscript online:
29 November 2023

Article published online:
24 January 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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