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The Paucity of Academic Plastic Surgery in Puerto Rico and its Impact on its Medical Education
Alvaro Reategui, MD
Angel Rivera Barrios, MD
Cleveland Clinic Plastic Surgery
2025-01-05
Presenter: Alvaro Reategui, MD
Affidavit:
Alvaro Reategui
Director Name: Raymond Isakov
Author Category: Resident Plastic Surgery
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: General Reconstruction
An unincorporated territory of the United States (US), Puerto Rico makes a unique case within the American medical education system compared to all other US territories. Despite its challenges, Puerto Rico has a robust pipeline of medical trainees and specialists. However, it remains unclear how exposure to academic and private practice careers influence collective perception of the specialty of plastic and reconstructive surgery. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the pipeline of active academic and private plastic surgeons in Puerto Rico and how this may impact the career path of aspiring academic plastic surgeons. We hypothesized that, given the lack of an established plastic surgery residency program in Puerto Rico, the majority of plastic surgeons on the island dedicate their careers to private practice. A retrospective review of publicly available databases was performed in order to determine where active board-certified plastic surgeons pursued training and ultimately, whether they pursued academia, private practice, or a combination in their current scope of practice. From the 25 board-certified plastic surgeons, 19 (76%) were fully committed to private practice. In comparison, only 6 (24%) pursued a combination of private and academic practice. One must consider how decreased exposure to academic plastic surgery places greater difficulties on Puerto Rican medical students who are navigating the process of applying for integrated plastic surgery. In preparing this communication, we strive to raise awareness of the island's relative absence of academic plastic surgeons and its impact on the Puerto Rican medical education.
