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Evaluating The State Of Didactic Education In Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Programs
Adaah A. Sayyed, MD1, Jessie L. Koljonen, MD
1, Diana Rapolti, MD
2, Ayushi Shah, BS
3, Teresa Wilson, BA
1, Kristin Delfino, PhD
1, Timothy HF Daugherty, MD
1.
1SIU Institute of Plastic Surgery, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL, USA,
2SIU Division of General Surgery, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL, USA,
3Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL, USA.
Purpose:
Effective plastic surgery education outside the operating room (OR) remains a challenge, with no standardized model for nonsurgical learning. Given limited resident work hours and the emphasis on maximizing operative experience, remaining educational time must be used efficiently. Adult learning and spaced learning theories inform optimal teaching strategies in residency. This study evaluates how integrated plastic surgery programs nationwide approach out-of-OR education and assesses the transparency of this information for prospective applicants.
Methods:Websites of all 89 integrated plastic surgery residency programs were reviewed in July 2025. Data were stored in REDCap and included type, frequency, and timing of didactics and hands-on labs. Frequency of missing information was also recorded. Descriptive statistics summarized findings.
Results:Of 89 programs, 69 (77.5%) reported educational content. Most included lectures (n=67), case-based/indications conference (n=58), journal club (n=62), M&M (n=52), or CoreQuest (n=7). Didactics were primarily held in the morning (n=42) and most often weekly (33.7%), followed by twice (22.5%) or three or more times per week (20.6%). Skills-based learning opportunities included cadaver labs (n=52), microsurgery labs (n=40), resident cosmetic clinics (n=31), and other procedural skills labs (n=17). Over half of programs lacked detailed online information regarding didactic hours, timing, frequency, protected time, and study resources.
Conclusion:Most programs provide multimodal educational experiences, but limited transparency restricts evaluation of adherence to adult and spaced learning principles. Enhancing the availability of program-specific educational data could improve applicant understanding and support more effective educational design in residency.
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