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CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2021; 48(06): 717-719
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2021.01165
Communication

Plastic surgery education in the COVID-19 pandemic: hindrance or opportunity?

Charlene Yat Che Chau  ‡  
Department of Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
Margaret Kay Ho  ‡  
Department of Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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Introduction

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the ensuing public health response have posed challenges to the traditional medical education model. The urgent need to steward scarce resources and maintain social distancing has led to the postponement of elective surgeries and the downsizing of inpatient care teams. This has significantly impacted medical training at every level. For plastic surgery residents, the reduction of hands-on surgical training is particularly pertinent given the increasing levels of sophistication of plastic surgeries in the past decade and the high clinical volume of elective procedures. Knock-on impact on training competencies and progression remains to be seen, but a review acknowledged by the General Medical Council shows a decline in skills in 6–18 months [1]. As for medical students, canceled electives may have denied students insight, interest and mentorship in the field [2] [3], which is aggravated by the limited inclusion of plastic surgery in the medical curriculum.

Given the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, there remain no official recommendations to guide surgical education. Leveraging existing technology whilst mitigating its limitations and adapting the curriculum to manage healthcare crises are of utmost importance to uphold the standards and competencies of the learners.

*The two authors contributed equally to this work.




Publication History

Received: 06 June 2021

Accepted: 06 August 2021

Article published online:
22 May 2022

© 2021. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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