Plastic and aesthetic surgery among medical students: A cross-sectional study

Tareq Alyahya; Ossama Mohamed Zakaria; Faisal Ali Al Jabr; Saif Fahad Alshaikhmubarak; Abdulla Nidal; Ahmed Abdulwahab; Noor Sakan; Ahmad Sami Alarfaj; Bashayer Fawaz Al Furaikh

doi:10.1177/20503121211054373

Plastic and aesthetic surgery among medical students: A cross-sectional study

SAGE Open Med. 2021 Oct 30:9:20503121211054373. doi: 10.1177/20503121211054373. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Tareq Alyahya¹, Ossama Mohamed Zakaria¹, Faisal Ali Al Jabr², Saif Fahad Alshaikhmubarak², Abdulla Nidal³, Ahmed Abdulwahab³, Noor Sakan³, Ahmad Sami Alarfaj², Bashayer Fawaz Al Furaikh²

Affiliations

¹ King Faisal University, Al Hofuf, Saudi Arabia.
² College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Al Hofuf, Saudi Arabia.
³ College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Abstract

Objectives: The wide variety of operations that a plastic surgeon can deal with creates confusion regarding its proper scope. This confusion was observed in primary physicians as well as medical students. Increasing the perception of medical students toward plastic surgery can aid in career decision-making and early referral patterns. The aim of this study is to gauge a holistic overview of how medical students and interns perceive the plastic and aesthetic surgical specialty in King Faisal University and to suggest a recommended plan.

Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed equally to male and female medical students and interns in a local medical institute. The questionnaire constituted three sections; the first included the biographical data. The second is concerned with the different case scenarios and specialties to be chosen. The third is concerned with the previous clinical exposures. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 21. Between comparison, chi-square tests, Mann-Whitney U-test, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied. Normality tests were conducted using the Shapiro-Wilk's test.

Results: Two hundred ninety-two students and interns have participated and completed the questionnaire. There were 189 males and 103 females. Plastic surgery was most commonly chosen in the following case scenarios; burn of the hand (74%), broken nose (64.7%), and cosmetic nose reshaping (80.8%). However, plastic surgery was infrequently chosen (selected by <30% of students) in many areas of hands and peripheral neuropathies (severed finger extensor tendon (26.4%), fractured scaphoid (12.7%), carpal tunnel syndrome (14.4%), brachial plexus injury (16.1%)). The most common source of information was the social media, and the least one is meeting with doctors and professors.

Conclusion: Medical students and interns lack a full view of plastic and reconstructive surgery, especially in hand and peripheral neuropathies. Improving the education of medical students and interns is recommended and needed.

Keywords: Plastic surgery; knowledge; medical students; perception.