Exposure to Plastic Surgery During General Surgery Training and Production of Independent Plastic Surgery Residents: A National Query of 341 Programs

Objective Exposure to plastic and reconstructive surgery is critical for general surgery residents to develop interest in pursuing plastic surgery as a career. This study aims to quantify trends in exposure to plastic surgery among general surgery residents and exposures relationship to pursuing independent plastic and reconstructive surgery match. Design This was a retrospective cross sectional observational study using publicly available data and program correspondence. Setting Data on program curriculum and rotation schedules were collected from general surgery program websites and communication with general surgery program coordinators (maximum 3 attempts). Participants In total, 416 general surgery graduates from 341 programs from 2016 to 2024 were included in this study. Results General surgery programs with more exposure to plastic surgery through dedicated rotations produced more independent plastic surgery residents, with programs producing only 1 matched applicant found to have 1.84 months of exposure, compared to programs with 4+ matched applicants averaging 2.48 months of exposure (p-value = <0.0001). Furthermore, affiliation of a general surgery program with an independent plastic surgery program was more strongly associated with successful applicant matching than affiliation with an integrated plastic surgery program. Conclusions GS residencies with an affiliated independent PRS program are more likely to match interested residents into PRS than those without. There is not a similar benefit for GS programs affiliated with integrated programs alone. Exposure to PRS through dedicated rotations is positively associated with increasing matched applicants following GS residency.