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Plastic surgery in the Norwegian undergraduate medical curriculum : students’ knowledge and attitudes. A nationwide case-control study

Almeland, Stian K. ; Guttormsen, Anne Berit ; de Weerd, Louis ; Nordgaard, Håvard B. ; Freccero, Carolin LU and Hansson, Emma LU (2017) In Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery 51(2). p.136-142
Abstract

Objective: Changes in medical education have resulted in less available time for plastic surgery, which might jeopardise the availability of plastic surgery for patients. The aims of this study were to investigate the level of knowledge within and attitudes towards plastic surgery among medical students, and find predictors for a wish to pursue a career in plastic surgery. Methods: A previously used questionnaire was sent to all clinical medical students. Law students were used as a control group. Results: Thirty per cent of all clinical medical students in the country responded. The majority of students considered education in plastic surgery valuable/very valuable and 23% were considering it as a career. Nonetheless, about half of the... (More)

Objective: Changes in medical education have resulted in less available time for plastic surgery, which might jeopardise the availability of plastic surgery for patients. The aims of this study were to investigate the level of knowledge within and attitudes towards plastic surgery among medical students, and find predictors for a wish to pursue a career in plastic surgery. Methods: A previously used questionnaire was sent to all clinical medical students. Law students were used as a control group. Results: Thirty per cent of all clinical medical students in the country responded. The majority of students considered education in plastic surgery valuable/very valuable and 23% were considering it as a career. Nonetheless, about half of the students were unaware of the plastic surgical education at their faculty and reported non-academic sources of learning. Only 44% of medical students were able to name five common plastic surgical procedures and 8% were unable to name any. Law students were superior to medical students in the task (p = 0.005). Forty-two per cent of medical students were successful in indicating on which body parts plastic surgeons operate, whereas law students were less successful (p = 0.001). Male gender and positive valuing of clinical attachment could predict a wish for a career in plastic surgery. Conclusion: In some aspects, medical students are only as knowledgeable as their non-medical peers. These results call for higher quality plastic surgery teaching, to secure referral of the correct patients and successful specialist recruitment to plastic surgery.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Attitudes, education, knowledge, plastic surgery, recruitment, training, undergraduate
in
Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery
volume
51
issue
2
pages
136 - 142
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • pmid:27387588
  • wos:000398029700008
  • scopus:84979073921
ISSN
2000-656X
DOI
10.1080/2000656X.2016.1203330
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
15ba4abc-c38a-442f-8231-08c7e5bb7c6a
date added to LUP
2016-08-16 16:56:29
date last changed
2024-02-19 01:29:58
@article{15ba4abc-c38a-442f-8231-08c7e5bb7c6a,
  abstract     = {{<p>Objective: Changes in medical education have resulted in less available time for plastic surgery, which might jeopardise the availability of plastic surgery for patients. The aims of this study were to investigate the level of knowledge within and attitudes towards plastic surgery among medical students, and find predictors for a wish to pursue a career in plastic surgery. Methods: A previously used questionnaire was sent to all clinical medical students. Law students were used as a control group. Results: Thirty per cent of all clinical medical students in the country responded. The majority of students considered education in plastic surgery valuable/very valuable and 23% were considering it as a career. Nonetheless, about half of the students were unaware of the plastic surgical education at their faculty and reported non-academic sources of learning. Only 44% of medical students were able to name five common plastic surgical procedures and 8% were unable to name any. Law students were superior to medical students in the task (p = 0.005). Forty-two per cent of medical students were successful in indicating on which body parts plastic surgeons operate, whereas law students were less successful (p = 0.001). Male gender and positive valuing of clinical attachment could predict a wish for a career in plastic surgery. Conclusion: In some aspects, medical students are only as knowledgeable as their non-medical peers. These results call for higher quality plastic surgery teaching, to secure referral of the correct patients and successful specialist recruitment to plastic surgery.</p>}},
  author       = {{Almeland, Stian K. and Guttormsen, Anne Berit and de Weerd, Louis and Nordgaard, Håvard B. and Freccero, Carolin and Hansson, Emma}},
  issn         = {{2000-656X}},
  keywords     = {{Attitudes; education; knowledge; plastic surgery; recruitment; training; undergraduate}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{136--142}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery}},
  title        = {{Plastic surgery in the Norwegian undergraduate medical curriculum : students’ knowledge and attitudes. A nationwide case-control study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2000656X.2016.1203330}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/2000656X.2016.1203330}},
  volume       = {{51}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}