Mentorship amid the Madness: The Value of National Mentorship Programs in Plastic Surgery amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly throughout the world, and the impact on global and national health care, including plastic surgery, has been dramatic and unpredictable. Plastic surgery departments and divisions went into limbo after the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and The Aesthetic Society, advised that elective and nonessential cases be canceled.¹ All large plastic surgery meetings were canceled. Aspiring plastic surgeon trainees are among those affected by the pandemic; the Association of American Medical Colleges called for a halt in all clinical rotations of at least 4 weeks’ duration in the 2020/2021 application cycle, a critical time for fourth-year medical students applying to integrated plastic surgery programs.²

Medical students typically dedicate April to September rotating as subinterns on the plastic surgery service at their home institution and at several “away institutions” throughout the United States. Away rotations play a significant role in the plastic and reconstructive surgery match process; 67 percent of successful applicants in a given year participated in a rotation at the institution they matched into.³ Students also attend national meetings for the opportunity to present their research, meet renowned faculty members across the country, and receive feedback on their application and performance. Often faculty, residents, and students at such events become lifelong colleagues and mentors.^4,5 These opportunities are now no longer available for students applying in the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Plastic surgery residency applicants applying in the 2020/2021 cycle era are facing the daunting unknown with more limited opportunities for meeting influential individuals in the field. Students at institutions that do not have a plastic surgery home program may be affected the most. Consequently, mentorship of future trainees is arguably more important than ever, as it provides prospective applicants with a unique opportunity to connect students with faculty across the country to discuss research and personal career development and to expand one’s network of mentors and colleagues. In 2015, the Plastic Surgery Research Council established a formal mentorship program with the goal of facilitating relationships between trainees and senior figures and of fostering unique guidance regarding career development. Medical student members and plastic surgery applicants can be paired with mentors across the nation from diverse backgrounds, and mentors can provide invaluable advice electronically regarding research endeavors and residency applications. With the current restrictions imposed by the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, electronic mentee-mentor interactions may be the only chance that prospective plastic surgery residents have to appreciate and converse with faculty and residents from different institutions,

We thus want to emphasize the value of mentorship relationships and formal mentorship programs such as that offered by the Plastic Surgery Research Council. It is critically important to connect medical students/trainees with faculty members to help them learn the nuances of plastic surgery programs in institutions across the nation. Reaching beyond the classroom and expanding our horizons can help us confront the realities we could not have anticipated.

DISCLOSURE

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

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