Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Virtual Curriculum

Last updated on Feb 16, 2024

The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Virtual Curriculum is a virtual course for medical students with curated learning modules and readings that cover main topics within plastic surgery. The course was designed and developed by Abra Shen, Dr. Bernard Lee, and Dr. Samuel Lin at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in 2020.

Our Goals

  1. Provide a structured curriculum for medical students to effectively learn about the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery virtually, especially while rotations and other learning opportunities are on hold.
  2. Curate an organized list of resources that cover a wide variety of topics that are accessible and useful to medical students with different learning styles.
  3. Build a community among students interested in the field.

The Course

The Pilot

We piloted the course with 16 medical students in May 2020. The pilot included small case discussion groups for students to talk through clinical cases together, solidify and apply knowledge, and get to know each other. We also held Q&A sessions and one-on-one on advising meetings for students to receive mentorship from our faculty advisors, Dr. Lee and Dr. Lin.

Clinical case discussion with students. Q&A session with Dr. Lin for advice and mentorship.

Official Launch

In June 2020, the course officially launched with participation from over 275 medical students from 18 different countries.

The June 2020 Curriculum
The June 2020 Curriculum

To help students practice their surgical skills, we offered suturing workshops. Students were instructed to create box trainers from supplies at home to allow visualization of their techniques.

Profile view of the box trainer (used with permission from Riley Dean at the Division of Plastic Surgery at UC San Diego). Aerial view of the box trainer (used with permission from Riley Dean at the Division of Plastic Surgery at UC San Diego). A course TA demonstrating suturing techniques. Virtual suturing workshop with students.

Updates and Improvements

The course was offered again in the Spring of 2021 with a new focus on MS3s and MS4s. The curriculum was updated to be spread over 14 weeks so students could participate alongside medical school courses and rotations. Small group case discussions remained a key component of the course, with groups either facilitated by Teaching Assistants or led by participants on rotating basis.

The PRSVC Speaker Series was introduced to the course. Each week, residents, fellows, and attendings gave talks focused on interesting cases they’ve performed related to the PRSVC course content. We hoped for the series to provide opportunities for speakers to showcase some of the great cases they see at their program and for students to connect with trainees and faculty across the country.

Our People

Since 2020, we have had over 1000 students participate in the PRSVC!

PRSVC Student Enrollment Per Year. In 2021, the course became limited to MS3s and MS4s.
PRSVC Student Enrollment Per Year. In 2021, the course became limited to MS3s and MS4s.

Leadership

We have been fortunate to have an amazing team who have led the course. Past leadership: Mahsa Taskindoust (Associate Director, 2022), Anamika Veeramani (Education Manager, 2023), Jasmine Panton (Speaker Series and Outreach Manager, 2023-2024, Assistant Director 2024), Jessica Blum (Social Media Manager, 2023), Rosie Friedman (Research Manager 2023, Education Manager 2024), and Charlotte Berry (Social Media Manager, 2024).

Teaching Assistants

Each year, medical students serve as Teaching Assistants and guide students through the content of the course through virtual case discussions.

PRSVC 2021 TAs: Allyson Alfonso, Anamika Veeramani, Anjali Raghuram, Ayana Cole-Price, Caleb Haley, Naomi Cole, Mahsa Taskindoust, Misha Pakvasa, and Sofia Duque. PRSVC 2022 TAs: Naomi Cole, Jila Dabestani, Jenna Stoehr, Gabriel Bouhadana, Kelly Spiller, Will Moritz, Rose Maisner, Amanda Brown, Anamika Veeramani, and Nick Elmer. PRSVC 2023 TAs: Nick Elmer, Rohun Gupta, Jasmine Panton, Nikhil Shah, Rosevine Azap, Karen Bach, Jeni Smith, Ali Herman, Ashley Newman, Asha Nanda, Edgar Soto, and Neej Patel.

More Information

In 2021, we published a manuscript in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open about our experiencing designing the PRSVC which can be read on the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open website.

Please follow @prsmeded for more information!