PLASTA is an international organisation for plastic surgery trainees, founded and run from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is headed by an executive committee and regional representatives throughout the UK and Ireland. PLASTA membership continues to grow internationally with 2721 members in total, 1676 members in UK and Ireland and 1405 international and allied health professional members. PLASTA has a vast Social Media influence and continues to grow in its presence and influence across 3 major social media platforms:
- Twitter @PLASTAUK
- Instagram @plastauk
How we work in conjunction with ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê:
- ST3 Interviews: We are grateful to have been invited to be independent observers of the online interviews for 2023.
- FRCS exams including revision material for this by ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê members for our FRCS webinars
- ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê-SAC-PLASTA national teaching programme
We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved in working closely with ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê
and the SAC to deliver a standardised, high-quality, online national teaching
programme for all trainees. All sessions have been offered as a bi-weekly half day
study leave sessions, across all regions of the UK and Ireland.
- JCST/ISCP New curriculum
PLASTA are working closely with the JCST are keen to understand any issues,
areas that require clarification or guidance regarding the new Plastic Surgery
curriculum which was implemented in August 2021. PLASTA are currently
undertaking a survey, with a view to hosting a joint webinar with the JCST to address
the questions that are most key for trainees.
- Fellowships
We continue to build fellowship resources, including an up-to-date fellowship
database that is updated live on the PLASTA website. We are also looking forward
to hosting a fellowship evening alongside the ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê & PLASTA winter
conference. ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê members are encouraged to contact our fellowship
representative, Anish, on fellowship.plasta@gmail.com to add their department’s
fellowships to our page.
- National surveys
The 2022 PLASTA National Training Survey was conducted in April 2022 with 193
complete responses (representing 53% of Plastic Surgery NTNs). The key findings
have been presented to the SAC, ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê and BAAPS. Summary results will be
available on the PLASTA website and publication of results is in progress. This year,
in addition to general training issues, we will also have a focus on the access to
aesthetic surgery training, equality & diversity, effects of bullying and harassment in
our specialty and well being and mentorship.
- Events
PLASTA X ICOPLAST World Congress and Trainee Olympiad
PLASTA are proud to have led the world’s first Trainee Olympiad in Dubai at
ICOPLAST 23 between 5-7th May. Our International Representative Vik Sharma and
Rini Vyas (prior Operations lead) have worked closely with ICOPLAST and national
plastic surgery partners in the United Arab Emirates to host an in-person tournament
which saw 20 teams competing head-to-head for very generous cash prizes won by
the top 3 teams. We were delighted to welcome over 1800+ delegates from over 90
different countries and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive for the event. We
are grateful for the support of ICOPLAST and our UAE partners in making this event
a success, and look forward to the next ICOPLAST Olympiad.
PLASTA Congress
We plan to hold our 3rd PLASTA Congress alongside the ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê Meeting in
Winter 2023. Our theme, alongside ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê, is ‘Interface’ with a great programme
to interest to students, junior and senior trainees alike with talks spanning different
subspecialties including aesthetic surgery, lower limb, breast alongside eminent key
note speakers. We will be running parallel sessions including ST3, FRCS
preparation and fracture fixation for those at different stages of their training and this
event will also be linked to an evening fellowship networking event. We look forward
to seeing you there - book your study leave now! Registration will be opening soon.
We will run the national trainer of the year award again in November-December
2023, with the winners being announced at PLASTA Congress, alongside the
̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê Meeting.
Association of Surgeons in Training 47th Annual Congress
PLASTA were delighted to support the ASiT Congress in February 2023 in Liverpool.
Our PLASTA Innovation representative Christian Asher will be leading a “Core Skills
in Plastic Surgery’ workshop and representing plastic surgery in their ‘Battle of the
Surgical Specialities’ session.
Webinars and Journal Clubs
PLASTA continue to run multiple successful webinar and journal club series on a
regular basis. The series currently spans:
- FRCS(Plast) webinars
- ‘Plastic Surgery Covered’ webinars for junior trainees
- BAAPS Aesthetic Training Day webinars
- JPRAS-PLASTA-ICOPLAST Journal Clubs
- EJPS-PLASTA-ICOPLAST Journal Clubs
- ASPS-PLASTA Podcasts
All PLASTA webinars are available in a password protected area of the PLASTA
website for members. These are embedded in the website to ensure privacy and
security. Journal club recordings are available as podcasts on all major podcast
channels (i.e. Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify).
PLASTA x ASPS Global Partner Webinar series
Our popular webinar series has restarted this year led by Tom Andrew, our
Research Rep. The first webinar features international speakers from Germany and
Italy discussing a wide variety of topics including ‘Great Toe Pulp Flaps in Finger Tip
reconstruction’ and ‘Barriers to Performing Microsurgery in Low income-settings’
from 25 th May 2023.
PLASTA ST3 Interview Course
Our inaugural PLASTA ST3 course was held virtually in November 2023, with the
aim of supporting prospective plastic surgery applicants preparing for their upcoming
ST3 interviews.
Research
PLASTA produce an annual research bulletin that is distributed to the mailing list and
available on the website. We are working to develop a national network of trainees
with an academic interest to promote collaboration and mentorship and continue to
interface with the RSTN.
Prizes
We offer 2 national prizes that are run annually:
- PLASTA Medical Student Essay Prize (1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd places awarded)
- PLASTA Trainee Essay Prize (1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd places awarded)
Grants
- PLASTA Medical Student and Trainee Events x5 per annum, £100-250 each
- PLASTA Plastic Surgery ‘Taster Week’ Grants: x2, £250 each
- PLASTA Reconstructive Fellowship Award: x2, £500 each
- PLASTA Aesthetic Fellowship Award: x2, £500 each
- PLASTA Conference Presentation Grants: x2, up to £500 each
These each have objective criteria against which applications are marked and
scored by relevant members of the PLASTA committees.
Juniors & undergraduates
We continue to support and sponsor multiple courses and conferences for junior
trainees and undergraduate students.
PRASSA, the national plastic surgery student association was launched in
December 2021 with over 20 student societies currently signed up.
PRASSA UK have expanded repertoire of activities with their goal of bringing
together all undergraduate plastic surgery societies across the UK. Their latest
initiatives have ranged from a National Essay Prize competition to a low-cost
nationwide suturing-kit rental scheme; to improve accessibility and remove barriers
to hands-on, educational, plastic surgery workshops for plastic surgery societies
across the country as well as a running a weekly webinar teaching programme
aimed at medical students. We are so proud to support their work to help get
students involved in plastic surgery from an early stage in their career to benefit the
future of our specialty.
Joint statements
- Joint statement on result of BMA ballot for junior doctor industrial action in
England, 22 nd Feb 2023
Representation
PLASTA provides active representation on the following committees:
- British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê)
o ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê Council
o ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê Education Committee
o ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê Professional Standards Committee
o ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê Innovation SIG
o ̨ÍåÁùºÏ²Ê SIAGs
- Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC)
- FRCS(Plast) Examination Board
- British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS)
- British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH)
- Intercollegiate Cosmetic Surgery Oversight Committee (ICSOC)
- British Burns Association (BBA)
- Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT)