title: The effect of educational internships on medical students' perceptions of plastic surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery educational internships on medical students' perceptions of the scope of plastic surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Gulhane Medical Faculty, Ankara, Turkey, from 2012 to 2013, and comprised 4th-, 5th- and 6th-year medical students. Students were given a questionnaire consisting of 28 questions related to maxillofacial and upper and lower extremity medical conditions, and skin, aesthetic and congenital anomalies. They were asked to correlate the treatment of certain medical conditions to the correct specialist clinics. SPSS 19 was used for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 145 participants, 65(44.83%) had received internship education of plastic surgery while 80(55.17%) had not received internship training. In 27(96.4%) of the 28 medical conditions covered, patient referral to plastic surgery specialists was found to be significantly higher in the student group that participated in educational internships (p<0.05). For this same group of students, certain medical conditions, such as ptosis, pressure sores, parotid gland masses, venous ulcerations, facial nerve paralysis, septum deviations and large soft tissue defects with open tibia fracture, were less commonly referred to plastic surgery (<50% each).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Short duration of educational plastic surgery internships prevented instructors from giving complete and detailed information to their students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Gulhane Military Medical Faculty, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Andac
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aykan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Ethics and Medical History, Gulhane Military Medical Faculty, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Engin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kurt
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Gulhane Military Medical Faculty, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Avsar
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Gulhane Military Medical Faculty, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Muhitdin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eski
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Gulhane Military Medical Faculty, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Serdar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozturk
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013518:Surgery, Plastic / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Plastic surgery, Perception, Medical faculty, Medical student, Education.