Plastic Surgeons as Institutional Leaders.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Administration
• Surgical Leadership
• Medical Management

Background:

• Physicians, particularly plastic surgeons, are significantly underrepresented in hospital leadership positions.
• The pathway for aspiring plastic surgeons to attain high-level administrative roles is not well-defined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To profile chief executive officers and surgeons-in-chief at top-ranked U.S. hospitals.
• To characterize the attributes of institutional leaders and identify potential barriers for plastic surgeons.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of leaders from the U.S. News and World Report "Best Hospitals Honor Roll" (2019-2020).
• Data collected included sex, title, degrees, experience, publications, specialty, and prior national leadership roles.
• Descriptive statistical analyses were performed.

Main Results:

• 99 leadership positions at 66 institutions were analyzed.
• Physicians comprised 42% of chief executive officers; only 2 of 32 surgeons-in-chief were plastic surgeons.
• No significant difference in qualifications (experience, publications, leadership roles) was found between physician and non-physician leaders, or between plastic surgeons and other surgeons in leadership.

Conclusions:

• Plastic surgeons are underrepresented in healthcare leadership despite possessing comparable qualifications.
• Aspiring plastic surgeon leaders can leverage peer credibility and patient care experience for success in leadership roles.