Is Plastic Surgery Resident Learning and Assessment Consistent? A Comparison of American Society of Plastic Surgery Educational Network Topics, In-Service Examinations, and Residency Core Curriculums.

[INTRODUCTION] The Plastic Surgery In-Service Examination (PSISE) objectively compares plastic and reconstructive surgery (PRS) residents' knowledge, while the ASPS' Education Network (EdNet) is a "gold standard," which programs use to design their curricula. This study aims to quantify the degree to which critical PRS learning modalities align. We also sought to understand the rationale behind how program leadership designed PRS residency core curricula.

[METHODS] Questions from ASPS EdNet resident courses and 2018 to 2022 PSISEs were tabulated and assigned to EdNet topics. Then, curricula from 15 PRS residencies were assigned to EdNet topics. Topic alignment between curricula, PSISEs, and EdNet courses was tested with Pearson's χ 2 and Fisher's exact tests. Program directors (PDs) and associate program directors (APDs) from PRS residencies were surveyed and/or interviewed regarding their PRS residency core curricula design.

[RESULTS] A total of 2038 questions corresponding to 102 topics were queried from EdNet. A total of 1170 PSISE questions and 910 curricula lectures were assigned to these topics. Program curricula taught 30 topics at significantly different frequencies than those taught by EdNet. The past 5 PSISEs tested 28 topics at significantly different frequencies than those taught by EdNet.

[CONCLUSIONS] One-third of gold-standard EdNet topics are taught and tested at significantly different frequencies. Comparison of these teaching tools shows that progress can be made to further align PRS educational modalities to improve resident learning and assessment.