Undergraduate plastic surgery in the United Kingdom: The students' perspective

Plastic Surgery is consistently ranked as one of the most competitive for higher surgical training in the United Kingdom. With falling rates of undergraduate Plastic Surgery education there is a danger that potentially excellent candidates will be deterred from applying for training positions. We sought to investigate a cohort of UK medical students with an established interest in Plastic Surgery regarding the factors that influence their interest in the specialty. A cross-sectional study design was used with questionnaires distributed to medical students attending the BAPRAS Undergraduate Day in London and Glasgow University Plastics Undergraduate National Conference in 2019. The questionnaire included factors attracting and deterring them from a career in Plastic Surgery, alongside their undergraduate exposure to the specialty and suggestions on how it could be improved. The most common factors attracting students to a career in Plastic Surgery were variety (25%), surgical intricacy (15%) and immediate effect on patient quality of life (12%). The most common factors deterring students from a Plastic Surgery career were a competitive national selection process (41%), work-life balance (15%) and length of training (12%). As 47% of students had not received undergraduate education in Plastic Surgery, their perceptions of the specialty will be likely be influenced from external, often negative, sources such as television and other media. To safeguard the future Plastic Surgery workforce, universities should collaborate with local departments and professional bodies to meet the needs of medical students for undergraduate exposure through mentorship, workshops, taster days and clinical placements.