Abstract

Plastic surgery skills course for medical undergraduates

Author(s): Ryckie Wade, James Henderson

Plastic Surgery is a popular and competitive speciality. However, many health care professionals are unaware of its true remit. Plastic surgery is not currently included in the formal undergraduate curriculum at the University of East Anglia (UEA). The UEA Surgical Society (established by undergraduate medical students), in conjunction with the Department of Plastic Surgery at the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust, offers regular extra-curricular courses to its members to rectify this. Students are lectured on various Plastic Surgery topics and taught important surgical skills including handling surgical instruments, closure of a variety of wounds/incisions, how to do hand-tie knots and the repair of tendons on pig trotters. Sessions allow one-to-one teaching from Plastic Surgeons and have proven to be a great success. The course has been established and run for two years, and by popular demand, will continue to offer skills & knowledge to students, whom wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity. The principles by which this course is run might be adaptable to other specialities and to postgraduate training.