TITLE:
Improving Confidence and Practical Skills in Plastic Surgery for Medical Students and Junior Doctors: A One-Day Session
AUTHORS:
Billy Ching Leung, Anna De Leo, Roba Khundkar, Nelson Leung, Alistair Reed, Lucy Cogswell
KEYWORDS:
Course, Practical Skills, Plastic Surgery, Undergraduate, Curriculum
JOURNAL NAME:
Surgical Science,
Vol.7 No.9,
September
26,
2016
ABSTRACT: Objectives:
The current medical school curriculum offers scant exposure to plastic surgery.
Medical students and junior doctors are often inadequately prepared for in-hospital
placements which may impact on patient safety and quality of care. We aimed to
deliver a one-day “hands-on” practical session on basic surgical skills and
principles in plastic surgery, and to assess its effectiveness at improving
confidence to the specialty among junior trainees. Methods: The one-day
practical session covered knot tying, suturing, LA administration, skin lesion
excision and local flaps, with short concurrent lectures on principles of
plastic surgery. Self-assessment confidence scores were recorded before and
after the course on seven domains: a) knowledge: wound assessment and
management, suture selection, and concepts of flaps; b) practical skills: Handling
of surgical instrument, suturing, LA administration, and skin lesion excision. Results:
Thirty-five participants attended: Six core surgical trainees, fifteen
foundation doctors, and fourteen medical students. The overall course
satisfaction was 9.13/10. Self-assessment confidence scores in all domains
significantly improved after the course (p