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EDUPlast: A Plastic Surgery Symposium Series For Local Underrepresented Learners
Chanel Reid, MD; Alexis Henderson, MPH; Allison Brophy, BS; Emma Hudson, MA; Shayan Sarrami, MD; Meeti Mehta, BS; Nerone Douglas, MSc; Carolyn De La Cruz, MD
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Department of Plastic Surgery
2025-01-10
Presenter: Chanel Reid, MD
Affidavit:
As the Program Director, I confirm that Dr. Chanel Reid has significantly contributed to the research project titled 'EDUPlast: A Plastic Surgery Symposium Series For Local Underrepresented Learners.' Dr. Reid was primarily responsible for analyzing and interpreting the data and drafting the abstract.
Director Name: Vu T. Nguyen, MD
Author Category: Medical Student
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: Craniomaxillofacial
Background: Pipeline programs for students underrepresented in medicine (URiM) have been shown to address the lack of diversity among medical school applicants and graduates by increasing minority group representation, especially in the field of plastic surgery. Education Symposium Series in Plastic Surgery (EDUPlast) is a Pittsburgh-based outreach series that provides local URiM high school and college students the opportunity to engage in hands-on plastic surgery skills workshops, to encourage pursuing plastic surgery as a future career.
Methods: Students participated in a nose sculpting workshop facilitated by a plastic surgeon, research fellows, and medical students. The workshop had an interactive lecture followed by a skills workshop. An anonymous pre- and post-workshop survey was distributed. The surveys used a Likert scale ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." A total of 56 responses were recorded.
Results: In the pre-workshop survey, students strongly agreed with spending time thinking about their future career, but did not consider pursuing a career in surgery or plastic surgery. In the post-workshop survey, students strongly agreed with better understanding the path to becoming a surgeon. Students agreed that the workshop increased their interest in pursuing a career in plastic surgery and health-related extracurricular activities.
Conclusion: The nose sculpting workshop is a fundamental first piece of the EDUPlast symposium series, providing an opportunity for valuable mentorship for high school and college students. Through integration of future plastic surgery workshops, students can build upon previously learned skills to further their interest in pursuing a surgical career.
