title: Climbing the ladder from novice to expert plastic surgeon.
abstract: This article reviews the nature of novice and expert thinking and shows how pattern recognition is a key distinction between the two. The article also discusses the ladder that learners climb as they move from medical student to senior staff surgeon and suggests ways of viewing surgical trainees as they progress through the process so that learning activities can be adopted that best fit them.
authors.affiliation: Temple, Texas; and Boston, Mass. From the Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, Scott & White Healthcare/Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, and Harvard Medical School and Harvard Macy Institute.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: H Thomas
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Aretz
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods*; D013518:Surgery, Plastic / Q000193:education*