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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg 2024; 57(01): 009-015
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1779480
Systematic Review

Plastic Surgery Teaching to United Kingdom Undergraduate Medical Students: A Systematic Review

Ahmad Khan 
1   College of Life Sciences, Leicester Medical School, Leicester, United Kingdom
,
Ahsan Khan
2   College of Medical and Dental Sciences, Birmingham Medical School, Birmingham, United Kingdom
,
Shaan Mohan
1   College of Life Sciences, Leicester Medical School, Leicester, United Kingdom
,
Nikhil Panse
3   Department of Plastic Surgery at B.J Medical College & Sassoon Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra, India
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Abstract

Background There are varying reports about United Kingdom medical students' exposure and teaching methods regarding plastic and reconstructive surgery. To date, no systematic review has been done looking at this topic.

Methods Three databases (PubMed, Embase, and Medline) were searched from January 1, 2011 to July 20, 2023 for studies that assessed United Kingdom medical students' exposure to plastic surgery and suggested recommendations to improve teaching. Three authors performed data extraction and screening, as per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Results Fifteen studies were included. Medical students' average current exposure to plastic surgery was 29.44%, but this was highly variable across the studies. The most common method of currently teaching plastic surgery was through lectures (34% of studies), and the most common suggested method of teaching was through courses (40% of studies). Many of the studies (12/15) were deemed as being at high risk of bias.

Conclusion More recent studies need to be performed to assess current levels of teaching of plastic surgery in the United Kingdom medical school curriculum. Greater exposure to plastic surgery through lectures and integrated clinical placements is needed to ensure equitable access for all medical students to plastic surgery as a profession.

Keywords

plastic and reconstructive surgery - medical students - teaching - medical school - United Kingdom - curriculum

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Article published online:
06 February 2024

© 2024. Association of Plastic Surgeons of India. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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