Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jun 27:25:72-82.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpra.2020.06.003. eCollection 2020 Sep.

Plastic surgery training in the UK: Results from a national survey of trainee experiences

Matthew Fell  1 , Robert Staruch  2 , Benjamin G Baker  3 , Rebecca Nicholas  4 , Rachel Howes  5 ; Collaborating Authors
Collaborators, Affiliations

Plastic surgery training in the UK: Results from a national survey of trainee experiences

Matthew Fell et al. JPRAS Open. .

Abstract

Background: Plastic surgery training in the UK continues to evolve towards an outcome-based rather than time-served curriculum. UK plastic surgery trainees are appointed nationally, and are assessed according to national standards, but training is delivered regionally. This study sought opinion from current UK plastic surgery trainees in order to highlight strengths and shortcomings of the higher surgical training programme.

Method: A cross-sectional study was designed and administered by the UK Plastic Surgery Trainees Association (PLASTA). A questionnaire was distributed to all UK plastic surgery trainees holding a National Training Number, using the REDCap web-based application.

Results: Of the 320 UK plastic surgery trainees, 131 (41%) participated in this survey, with responses from all 12 UK training regions. The most common subspecialty career aspirations for trainees were hand surgery, cleft lip and palate, lower limb and oncoplastic breast reconstruction. The survey highlighted regional variation in teaching programmes, the ability to achieve indicative operative logbook numbers, and training in aesthetic surgery. Of the trainees, 82% expressed a desire to undertake a fellowship within their training, but most did not know whether their deanery would support this. Fifteen per cent of the respondents were currently training flexibly and the majority of these had experienced negative behaviours towards their less than full time working status. Of the respondents, 44% reported stress, 25% reported a lack of autonomy and 17% reported feeling burnt out at work at least once a week. A total of 85% perceived that they did not have access to a mentoring service.

Conclusions: Plastic surgery remains a popular and highly competitive surgical speciality in the UK, and many trainees reported high levels of satisfaction during their training. Aspects of training that could be improved have been highlighted and recommendations made accordingly.

Keywords: PLASTA; Plastic surgery; Surgical training.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare. All authors were elected members of the PLASTA Committee. The PLASTA Committee received financial and logistical support from BAPRAS for the financial year 2018–2019 when this survey took place.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bar chart to show the number of respondents in each of the six training years from ST3 to 8.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bar chart to portray the first choice subspecialty aspirations of UK plastic surgery trainees for 15 subspecialty areas within plastic surgery.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bar chart to show frequency of additional qualifications achieved during training by 89 (68%) respondents in this survey. Common degree programmes included Masters, Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Doctor of Medicine (MD), Masters of Business (MBA), Master of Education (MEd) and Master of Public Health (MPH).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Harries R.L., Williams A.P., Ferguson H.J.M. The future of surgical training in the context of the ‘Shape of Training’ Review: consensus recommendations by the Association of Surgeons in Training. Int J Surg. 2016;36:S5–S9. - PubMed
    1. Fitzgerald J.E., Caesar B.C. The European Working Time Directive: a practical review for surgical trainees. Int J Surg. 2012;10(8):399–403. - PubMed
    1. Mohan H.M., Gokani V.J., Williams A.P. Consultant outcomes publication and surgical training: consensus recommendations by the association of surgeons in training. Int J Surg. 2016;36:S20–S23. - PubMed
    1. Joint Committee for Surgical Training. Plastic Surgery Quailty Indicators. https://www.jcst.org/quality-assurance/quality-indicators/[Accessibility verified February 9, 2020].
    1. Joint Committee for Surgical Training. UK Plastic Surgery Certification Guidance. https://www.jcst.org/quality-assurance/certification-guidelines-and-chec...[Accessibility verified February 9, 2020].

LinkOut - more resources