Is Plastic Surgery Resident Learning And Assessment Consistent? A Comparison Of American Society Of Plastic Surgery Educational Network Topics, In-service Examinations, And Residency Core Curriculums
Thomas M. Johnstone, BS1, Daniel Najafali, BS2, Farrah Liu, MD3, Paige Fox, MD PhD3.
1Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA, 2Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Urbana, IL, USA, 3Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
PURPOSE: The in-service examination objectively compares plastic surgery (PS) residents' knowledge, while the ASPS’ Education Network (EdNet) is a “gold-standard” which programs use to design their curricula. This study aims to quantify the degree to which critical PS learning modalities align.
METHODS: Questions from the EdNet resident courses and 2018-2022 in-service examinations were tabulated and assigned to EdNet topics. Then, curricula for fifteen PS residencies were assigned to EdNet topics. Topic alignment between curricula didactics, in-service examinations, and EdNet courses was tested with Pearson’s Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact Tests.
RESULTS: 2,038 questions corresponding to 102 topics were queried from EdNet. 1170 in-service questions and 910 curricula lectures were assigned to these topics. Program curricula taught thirty topics at significantly different frequencies than those taught by EdNet. The past five in-service examinations tested 28 topics at significantly different frequencies than those taught by EdNet.
CONCLUSION: One-third of gold-standard EdNet topics are taught and tested at significantly different frequencies. However, the gold-standard itself may require review: no anatomy courses exist for the head and neck or extremities, and there is no course dedicated to lymphedema. Therefore, there is significant room to further align PS educational modalities to improve resident learning and assessment. 
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