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Designing and arranging an undergraduate elective course in plastic surgery—the experiences of a Scandinavian department

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European Journal of Plastic Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

In recent years, the medical curricula have become more crowded and the majority of medical students are no longer exposed to plastic surgery in medical school. Previous studies have revealed that most medical students are not aware of what the speciality entails.The aims of this paper were to describe the development of an elective course, as a method for including more plastic surgery in undergraduate medical training, and to investigate how many students were attracted to the course.

Methods

The course was designed to build on knowledge the students had acquired previously in their training. The aims and learning objectives were chosen so that they would be potentially useful to all future doctors and were described according to the SOLO taxonomy and the levels of Miller’s pyramid of learning were applied.

Results

The course attracted students who had not previously considered a career in plastic surgery. The number of students applying for the course exceeded the number of places on offer and the course was well received by the students taking it.

Conclusions

The course has the potential to increase the knowledge about plastic surgery among future doctors, possibly leading to improvements in both referrals and recruitment of suitable young doctors to the speciality.

Level of Evidence: Not ratable.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the students from the academic year 2012–2013 for taking our course and for their suggestions as to how our teaching could be improved.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

    Emma Hansson

  2. Capio Medocular, Djäknegatan 14, SE-211 35, Malmö, Sweden

    Elisabeth Stövring-Nielsen

Authors
  1. Emma Hansson
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  2. Elisabeth Stövring-Nielsen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emma Hansson.

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Ethical standards

The manuscript does not contain clinical studies or patient data.

Conflict of interest

Emma Hansson and Elisabeth Stövring-Nielsen declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

This study was not funded.

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Hansson, E., Stövring-Nielsen, E. Designing and arranging an undergraduate elective course in plastic surgery—the experiences of a Scandinavian department. Eur J Plast Surg 39, 207–212 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-015-1174-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-015-1174-2

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