Knowledge of Medical Students in Pre-Clinical and Clinical Course Toward the Field of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, 2017

Background: Plastic and cosmetic surgery is one of the most unique and less well-known surgical specialties. The aim of this study was to compare knowledge of medical students in pre-clinical and clinical course of Guilan University of Medical Sciences in the specialty field of plastic & cosmetic surgery. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in educational hospitals of Guilan University of Medical Sciences. A total of 866 students in two groups of clinical and preclinical students were participated in the study. Research instrument was a questionnaire composed of 31 questions about knowledge toward plastic and cosmetic surgery including general, craniofacial, and cosmetic questions. Results: The mean age of participants was 22.5 (SD = 2.5) and 57.2% were female. Twenty-four percent had a history of plastic and cosmetic surgery. Students in clinical course had significantly higher knowledge toward all three aspects of general, cosmetic and craniofacial questions compared to clinical students. The result of multivariate linear regression showed that the course level, sex, interest score to the field of surgery, and source of information were independently associated with knowledge. Conclusion: This study found that clinical students had significantly higher knowledge toward the field of cosmetic surgery than pre-clinical students.