[Microsurgical training in Germany - results of a survey among trainers and trainees]

Reconstructive microsurgery is an essential part of plastic surgery. To live up to the high technical demands of today's sophisticated techniques, a structured microsurgical training is required. However, such curricula are rare in Germany. We therefore evaluated the concepts and requests of trainers as well as trainees regarding an optimal microsurgical training. We found that the demands of both sides to be fairly similar. How-ever, there were factors potentially hindering the implementation of such curricula, foremost the increasing economic pressure. Based on our findings, representatives of microsurgical trainers and trainees, together with national societies might be able to establish a national curriculum for microsurgical training. The clinical implementation of such a structured train-ing will require significant personal resources. However, this expenditure seems to be justified by the increasing complexity of techniques, the rising demand of patients and the limited time for -surgical training.