Evaluation of the Plastic Surgery In-Service Training Exam: Lower Extremity Questions

• Published in: Journal of surgical education Vol. 72; no. 5; pp. 875 - 881
• Main Authors: Silvestre, Jason, Basta, Marten N., Serletti, Joseph M., Chang, Benjamin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.09.2015
• Subjects: Curriculum; education; Educational Measurement; examination; foot; Humans; Internship and Residency; Lower Extremity - surgery; Medical Knowledge; Patient Care; Practice-Based Learning and Improvement; PSITE; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures - education; residency; Surgery; Surgery, Plastic - education; residency; Patient Care; education; Medical Knowledge; examination; PSITE; Practice-Based Learning and Improvement; curriculum; foot
• ISSN: 1931-7204; 1878-7452
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2015.04.025

To facilitate the training of plastic surgery residents, we analyzed a knowledge-based curriculum for plastic and reconstructive surgery of the lower extremity. The Plastic Surgery In-Service Training Exam (PSITE) is a commonly used tool to assess medical knowledge in plastic surgery. We reviewed the lower extremity content on 6 consecutive score keys (2008-2013). Questions were classified by taxonomy, anatomy, and subject. Answer references were quantified by source and relative year of publication. Totally, 107 questions related to the lower extremity (9.1% of all questions) and 14 questions had an associated image (13.1%). Questions required decision making (49%) over interpretation (36%) and direct recall (15%) skills (p < 0.001). Conditions of the leg (42.1%) and thigh (24.3%) constituted most of the questions. Subject matter focused on flap reconstruction (38.3%), nerve injury (8.4%), and congenital deformity (6.5%). Analysis of 263 citations to 66 unique journals showed that Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (54.9%) was the highest yield primary source. The median year of publication relative to PSITE administration was 6 (range: 1-58) with a mode of 2 years. Plastic Surgery by Mathes et al. was the most referenced textbook (21.9%). These data establish a benchmark for lower extremity training during plastic surgery residency. Study efforts focused on the most common topics and references will enhance trainee preparation for lower extremity PSITE questions.