SynthesisAnnals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England2025
Undergraduate deficits in plastic surgery exposure and awareness of the specialty: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Development and Delivery of a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Case-Based Learning Curriculum for Pre-Clerkship Medical Students.Plastic surgery (Oakville, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Longitudinal studies on interdisciplinary teaching models incorporating plastic surgery.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2026Article
- Knowledge and Awareness of Plastic Surgery Training Among UK Undergraduate Medical Students: A National Cross-sectional Study.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2026Article
- What Do Undergraduate Medical Students Value in Plastic Surgery Conferences?Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPlastic surgery is an important specialty that involves widespread medical knowledge, some of which is taught in undergraduate curricula. The General Medical Council provides a well-defined plastic surgery curriculum for postgraduate training. However, there is no consensus on the provision for undergraduates in this specialty, potentially giving rise to a deficit in undergraduate medical education and a suboptimal basis for plastic surgery postgraduate training. Our aim was to identify the gap in undergraduate plastic surgery teaching and to understand student perceptions of the specialty as well as any trialled interventions.
methodsA prospectively registered systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The MEDLINE
resultsSurveys assessing medical student perceptions indicate a significant deficit in exposure to plastic surgery in the undergraduate curriculum. Medical students' interest in the specialty is affected by multiple factors, including the amount of surgical exposure in medical school. Interventions to address the deficit mostly involve one-day courses.
conclusionsAlthough the literature is currently limited, studies are needed to effectively assess the outcomes of plastic surgery teaching methods in undergraduate training. Moreover, there is a need for consensus around the provision of undergraduate teaching in plastic surgery. This should be reflected in the latest undergraduate curricula in medical education.
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