The Virtual Visiting Professor: Temporary Form of COVID-19 Social Distancing or Potential Paradigm Shift?

Abstract

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery • October 2021 to the Step 2 Clinical Knowledge examination in the future, which would further compound this conundrum faced by medical students interested in applying to an integrated plastic surgery residency.In this communication, we posit an alternative venue to measure a medical student's commitment to plastic surgery and an opportunity for students to showcase their competitiveness unique to plastic surgery: a plastic surgery-specific examination for medical students. This will enable residency programs to more effectively filter applications based on an assessment that involves the applicant's knowledge of core plastic surgery principles appropriate to the medical student level instead of a broad-scope United States Medical Licensing Examination board examination that does not assess knowledge or interest in plastic surgery. 3 Details of administration of the examination will need to be resolved, but the examination could potentially be given at designated testing centers (e.g., Prometric) at certain times of the year around the country. Potential sources of test material could be from Grabb & Smith's Plastic Surgery, Janis' Essentials of Plastic Surgery, and/or Plastic Surgery Essentials for Students. The former two texts are frequently available through most school libraries, and the third text is available for free online at the generosity of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.This would allow program directors of integrated residency programs to change the focus of their preliminary review of applicants to those who have made a dedicated effort to master fundamental concepts of plastic surgery rather than on generalized test-taking skills not applicable to plastic surgery. Of course, this would mean an additional standardized examination for medical students, but this may very well give medical students more control of their own education and reduce the stress of a singular examination.In toto, it has been overdue for there to be an equitable venue for all medical students applying to integrated plastic surgery residencies to showcase their knowledge base and dedication to the very subject that is omitted from current standardized examinations. It would also facilitate interview selection by program directors, as they would have access to an objective assessment of specialty-specific core knowledge for each applicant. It is only logical to filter applicants based, at least partly, on an objective measure of his or her knowledge base of fundamental concepts in plastic surgery.

Virtual has become the Reality: Shifting Applicant Attitudes Towards Virtual Plastic Surgery Residency Interviews

“…We recently published a positive experience with a virtual visiting professor program from both the professor and resident perspective. 5 With the efficiency and financial advantage that virtual interviews offer, it is possible they can remain a part of the residency selection process after the pandemic restrictions are lifted. Given these findings, residency programs should work on optimizing the virtual interview process.…”

Untitled

“…Desenvolver e aprimorar plataformas com treinamentos práticos virtuais síncronos, com uso de internet veloz facilitaria a interação entre os residentes e os professores, incluindo professores visitantes, aumentando assim a regionalização de teleconferências educativas e viabilizando a universalização do ensino, sem necessitar grandes deslocamentos 8,10,[29][30][31][32] .…”