Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Educating Students about Plastic Surgery: A Program for Grade School Outreach

2008; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 122; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/prs.0b013e3181774694

1529-4242

Jeffrey D. Larson, David L. Larson, Michael L. Bentz,

Innovations in Medical Education

Sir: As plastic surgeons, we recognize that the public’s perception of our specialty is limited to the idea that we are primarily cosmetic surgeons, with reconstructive surgery being considered an afterthought.1 The impression of the layperson is that plastic surgeons prey on the desires of insecure people who are trying to “nip and tuck” their way to eternal youth. The popular media do little to dissuade the public from these misconceptions. Television programs such as “Nip/Tuck,” MTV’s “I Want a Famous Face,” and “Dr. 90210” reinforce the negative bias people have toward plastic surgery. The problem plastic surgeons have is the relative glut of cosmetic surgery coverage associated with the specialty and the paucity of reconstructive surgery exposure. With this in mind, a program was developed to teach children about plastic surgery. Schoolchildren represent an impressionable population that is enthusiastic and enjoys learning. To design the program, several educational resources were used. The first was the Plastic Surgery Education Campaign from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The next was a local program through the Medical College of Wisconsin that provides science education to area schoolchildren. Finally, two plastic surgery faculty heavily involved in plastic surgery education (Drs. David L. Larson and Michael L. Bentz) were consulted. The program was delivered to a local fifth grade class in Elm Grove, Wisconsin (Fig. 1). The objectives of the presentation were as follows: to expose the children to the reconstructive aspect of plastic surgery and to introduce surgical principles. After the presentation, a questionnaire was used to assess the students’ learning.Fig. 1.: Mrs. Rebecca Larson’s fifth grade class, Heritage Christian Elementary School, Elm Grove, Wisconsin.The presentation was opened with a PowerPoint (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash.) presentation of several patients. Throughout the PowerPoint presentation, it was stressed that plastic surgeons “take something that is not normal and make it normal.” They do this by “taking skin from an area of the body where it is available and transferring it to an area of the body where it is needed.” The cases were a patient with a cleft lip, another with a large hairy nevus, and a third with radiation damage after cancer treatment, with the subsequent reconstructions in each case. After the PowerPoint demonstration, a surgical activity involving the students changing into scrub apparel and repairing incisions in bananas using surgical staplers completed the hour-long program. After the activity, a questionnaire was distributed to identify information learned. All of the students enjoyed the program. The two most popular answers for what they learned about plastic surgery were that (1) plastic surgery does not have anything to do with plastic and (2) plastic surgery involves moving skin from one area of the body to another. We believe this program is effective on several fronts. First, it is an easy and effective educational tool plastic surgeons can use to reach the youngest generation. Second, it is an excellent outreach tool for medical students interested in plastic surgery. Finally, and most importantly, we believe it represents a much needed means of positive exposure for this proud surgical specialty. Jeffrey D. Larson, M.D. Division of Plastic Surgery University of Wisconsin David L. Larson, M.D. Department of Plastic Surgery Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee Michael L. Bentz, M.D. Division of Plastic Surgery University of Wisconsin Madison, Wis.