Experiential learning in aesthetic surgery training: a quantitative comparison among surgical subspecialties.

[BACKGROUND] The specialty of plastic surgery has evolved to encompass a wide breadth of both reconstructive and aesthetic surgery. Practitioners in other specialties have increasingly advanced on procedures and areas that have traditionally been served by plastic surgeons. To date, no evaluation and comparison of the operative experience of graduating residents from various specialties has been performed.

[METHODS] The authors review the case log statistical reports of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. For each specialty, this annual report highlights the average number of cases performed for all graduating residents. The national case log reports were reviewed for dermatology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and plastic surgery. Four procedures (i.e., blepharoplasty, face lift, liposuction, and rhinoplasty) were compared for residents graduating in the 2006 to 2010 academic years. The hypothesis that no difference exists between the average numbers of aesthetic procedures performed by various specialty residency training was tested using a two-sample t statistic.

[RESULTS] For blepharoplasty, face lift, and liposuction, the higher number of cases performed by graduating plastic surgery residents was statistically significant (p < 0.00001) for all years examined. Although plastic surgery trainees graduating from 2006 to 2010 had a higher number of recorded rhinoplasties, this difference in case logs was statistically significant only for plastic surgery residents graduating in 2008.

[CONCLUSIONS] The quantitative operative experience of graduating plastic surgery residents for selected aesthetic surgery cases exceeds that of other surgical subspecialties. Given the exposure and strength of plastic surgery training, plastic surgeons should remain at the forefront of aesthetic surgery.