We just finished taking our plastic surgery in-service exam this week. A 200 question exam covering the following topics: Comprehensive plastic surgery, Breast and Cosmetic, Craniomaxillofacial, and Hand/Lower extremity. The idea behind this test is to prepare us for our Plastic Surgery Board exam (upon completion of residency) and it is also used as a measuring device to see how well we’re learning compared to our peers. Studying for this test as a first-year resident is daunting since there really is no ideal study review guide. Reading to learn plastic surgery and reading to do well on the test are two different things. Our program does a weekly Grabb & Smith chapter review covering 3 chapters per week with a powerpoint question/answering session. We use questions from past in-service exams. This conference forces you to read each week and get a basic overview of each plastic surgery topic….a very viable asset for a busy resident.
Additional test specific study guides that our upper level residents (and myself) found useful have been the following books.
1. Essentials of Plastic Surgery
2. Plastic and Reconstructive Board Review
The ASPS is preparing a web-based education for residents that is suppose to include surgery video links, and lectures. This should improve the education opportunity for all of us. In the meantime, when you’re crunched for time and need to prepare for this test I hope folks find these resources helpful.
Matthew Blanton, MD
Plastic surgery resident
Duke University Plastic Surgery
