Participation of chilean plastic surgery residents in scientific publications: Review of the last 20 years

Abstract

Aim: Evaluate the participation of Chilean plastic surgery residents in scientific publication in the last 20 years and assess their experience during residency.

Materials and Method: Literature review from 1998- 2018 under the terms: Cirugia Plastica AND Plastic Surgery AND Chile. Publications with at least one plastic surgeon author with filiation reported in Chile were considered. Those with reported participation of residents were registered and their authors were also analyzed according to their period of residence and date of publication, adding them as unreported residents. Subjects, year of publication and journals were analyzed. A survey was applied to plastic surgery residents and recent plastic surgery graduates to evaluate the perception of their participation in scientific activities. Residents participation with and without a previous research fellow was compared using Fisher`s exact test.

Results: Reconstructive themed studies (48.2%), in adults (68.6%) and in university centers (48.7%) prevailed among the included articles. The reported participation of residents was 8.4%, which rised to 38.2% when it was extended to those not explicitly reported as residents among the authors. Residents exposed the lack of time as the main barrier to publication and congress participations.

Discussion: Participation in scientific activities is beneficial for residents, their mentors and the academic reputation of their centers. The majority of residents believe that their participation could have been greater if more facilities had been given.

Conclusions: Participation of plastic surgery residents in scientific publications is under reported. The implementation of research programs, protected times and active mentoring could increase this number.