Professional perceptions of plastic and reconstructive surgery: what primary care physicians think.
BACKGROUND
The great breadth of the specialty of plastic surgery is often misunderstood by practitioners in other specialties and by the public at large. The authors investigate the perceptions of primary care physicians in training toward the practice of different areas of plastic and reconstructive surgery.


METHODS
A short, anonymous, Web-based survey was administered to residents of internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics training programs in the United States. Respondents were asked to choose the specialist they perceived to be an expert for six specific clinical areas, including eyelid surgery, cleft lip and palate surgery, facial fractures, hand surgery, rhinoplasty, and skin cancer of the face. Specialists for selection included the following choices: dermatologist, general surgeon, ophthalmologist, oral and maxillofacial surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, otolaryngologist, and plastic surgeon.


RESULTS
A total of 1020 usable survey responses were collected. Respondents believed the following specialists were experts for eyelid surgery (plastic surgeon, 70 percent; ophthalmologist, 59 percent; oral and maxillofacial surgeon, 15 percent; dermatologist, 5 percent; and otolaryngologist, 5 percent); cleft lip and palate surgery (oral and maxillofacial surgeon, 78 percent; plastic surgeon, 57 percent; and otolaryngologist, 36 percent); facial fractures (oral and maxillofacial surgeon, 88 percent; plastic surgeon, 36 percent; otolaryngologist, 30 percent; orthopedic surgeon, 11 percent; general surgeon, 3 percent; and ophthalmologist, 2 percent); hand surgery (orthopedic surgeon, 76 percent; plastic surgeon, 52 percent; and general surgeon, 7 percent); rhinoplasty (plastic surgeon, 76 percent; otolaryngologist, 45 percent; and oral and maxillofacial surgeon, 18 percent); and skin cancer of the face (dermatologist, 89 percent; plastic surgeon, 35 percent; oral and maxillofacial surgeon, 9 percent; otolaryngologist, 8 percent; and general surgeon, 7 percent).


CONCLUSIONS
As the field of plastic surgery and other areas of medicine continue to evolve, additional education of internal medicine, pediatrics, and family practice physicians and trainees in the scope of plastic surgery practice will be critical.
Tanna
Neil
N
Los Angeles, Calif.; and Ann Arbor, Mich. From the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles; the Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan; and the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Patel
Nitin J
NJ
Azhar
Hamdan
H
Granzow
Jay W
JW
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002140:California; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005194:Family Practice / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011336:Probability; D024382:Professional Role; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000639:trends*; D012938:Social Perception; D013518:Surgery, Plastic / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires