INTRODUCTION: The residency period is an important step in the medical training of plastic surgeons in Brazil. However, there are few qualitative studies about the existing residency programs. Thus, the aim of this study was to conduct a qualitative research of the medical residency programs of the accredited services of the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery in Distrito Federal. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed through individual structured questionnaires, which were self-administered by residents training in the accredited services of Distrito Federal, in 2012. RESULTS: Eighteen residents (age range, 25-52 years; 13 [72.2%] men and 5 [27.8%] women) agreed to participate. Of them, 61.1% reported that the hospital had complementary services necessary to meet patients' continuous care and the minimum requirements of the program, 66.7% thought that the bibliographic archive was only partially adequate or inadequate, and 72.2% reported to participate in 2 or more hours of weekly scientific meetings. Participation in 5 to 10 surgeries per week was reported by 88.8% of participants. Most residents said that they participate for up to 4 hours/week as a surgeon and 11-20 hours/week as an assistant. Most (66.7%) of residents had made presentations at scientific meetings, and 72.2% had no articles published in the Brazilian Journal of Plastic Surgery. With respect to the workload of the residency program, 80% were assigned to outpatient, infirmary, and surgical center activities, and 20% were assigned to theoretical activities. Among the suggestions mentioned to improve the medical residency programs were the need to increase the scope and the interchange between services, as well as the encouragement of scientific research output. CONCLUSIONS: The perception of plastic surgery residents in the accredited services of Distrito Federal, about the curriculum, program structure and teaching performance, was positive. The negative aspects mentioned were the range and distribution of the curriculum, lack of emergency care, inadequate training in reconstructive procedures, and compact training in other areas, as well as an unsatisfactory bibliographic archive and lack of incentive for researchers. Among the suggestions especially mentioned for the improvement of the medical residency programs were the need to increase the scope and the exchange between services, as well as the encouragement of scientific research output.
Plastic surgery; Teaching; Education; Education, medical; Internship and residency
