Leadership trends in plastic surgery.
BACKGROUND
The authors examined the recent trends in the composition, appointment, and turnover of chairpersons in academic plastic surgery.


METHODS
A survey regarding the characteristics of the current and former department chairpersons in plastic surgery was mailed to the 89 existing academic plastic surgery programs. The survey focused on the age, gender, subspecialty, interim tenure, and overall tenure of the two groups.


RESULTS
An initial response was received from 60 chairpersons. The majority of current chairpersons are male (81 of 89, 91 percent), which is slightly lower than the group of immediate past chairs, of whom 98 percent (87 of 89) were male. From the questionnaires, it was noted that for both the current and former groups of chairpersons, the 40- to 50-year age range was the most frequent age group at which an individual was appointed to that position. Approximately one-third (35.7 percent) of the current group consider themselves "general plastic surgeons." This differs from their predecessors, of whom 56.0 percent reported the same designation. An increase in the promotion of existing faculty to chairpersons was also noted. As compared with 44.2 percent of the previous group, 69.5 percent of the current chairpersons were promoted from within the department.


CONCLUSIONS
The population of academic chairpersons in plastic surgery is changing. Today, more chairpersons appear to be younger and specialty trained. Examining the history of academic leadership and identifying trends in any field of medicine can only help to better prepare the specialty for the future.
Addona
Tommaso
T
New York, N.Y. From the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center.
Polcino
Michael
M
Silver
Lester
L
Taub
Peter J
PJ
D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000639:trends*; D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013518:Surgery, Plastic / Q000193:education*; D000078329:Workforce