Impacto da monitoria de Cirurgia Plástica no conhecimento teórico e nas habilidades práticas em estudantes de medicina / Impact of extracurricular activities in Plastic Surgery on the knowledge and practical skills of medical students

Introdução: Avaliar o impacto da monitoria em Cirurgia Plástica da Universidade Federal de São Paulo no conhecimento e nas habilidades práticas em estudantes de Medicina. Métodos: Seis acadêmicos participantes da monitoria e oito acadêmicos não participantes foram selecionados aleatoriamente e avaliados antes e depois do programa, por meio de testes de múltipla escolha e através do instrumento Surgical Skills Assessment (SSA), para avaliação das habilidades práticas. Resultados: O Grupo estudo obteve aumento significativo nas notas de prova teórica, entre o período antes do programa (média 15,8 e desvio padrão de 2,7) e após (média 21,8 e desvio padrão 1,3) (p = 0,02). Resultado semelhante foi encontrado com o instrumento SSA entre o período antes (média 9,8 e desvio padrão 1,4) e após o programa (média de 13,5 e desvio padrão 1,6) (p = 0,02). O grupo controle não obteve mudança significativa nos testes teóricos em agosto de 2010 ( média de 14,0 e desvio padrão 4,1) e junho de 2011 ( média de 13,8 e desvio padrão de 2,6 ) (p = 0,40 ). Resultado semelhante foi encontrado com o instrumento SSA em agosto de 2010 (média de 8,5 e desvio padrão 2,2) e junho de 2011 (média de 9,6 e desvio padrão 1,7) (p = 0,18). Conclusão: Acadêmicos participantes na monitoria de Cirurgia Plástica da Universidade Federal de São Paulo apresentaram melhor conhecimento e melhores habilidades práticas em relação aos não participantes.

Introduction: To assess the impact of extracurricular activities in plastic surgery on the knowledge and practical skills of medical students at the Federal University of São Paulo. Methods: Six students participating in extracurricular activities and eight students who did not participate were randomly selected and evaluated before and after the program by using multiple-choice tests and a Surgical Skills Assessment (SSA) instrument to assess their practical skills. Results: The study group obtained higher scores in the theoretical tests, when the scores before starting the program (average, 15.8; standard deviation, 2.7) were compared with those received after their participation in extracurricular activities (average, 21.8; standard deviation, 1.3) (p = 0.02). Similar results were obtained with the SSA instrument for the period before the start of (average, 9.8; standard deviation, 1.4) and after (average, 13.5; standard deviation, 1.6) (p = 0.02) the program. The control group did not show significant changes in the scores received for theoretical tests when the period from August 2010 (average, 14.0; standard deviation, 4.1) to June 2011 (average, 13.8; standard deviation, 2.6) (p = 0.40) was evaluated. Similar results were obtained with the SSA instrument for the evaluation period between August 2010 (average, 8.5; standard deviation, 2.2) and June 2011 (average, 9.6; standard deviation, 1.7) (p = 0.18). Conclusion: The students participating in extracurricular activities in plastic surgery at the Federal University of São Paulo improved their knowledge and acquired better practical skills compared with students who did not participate.

Stability of surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion with and without retention analyzed by 3-dimensional imaging.

INTRODUCTION: Surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion (SARPE) is the procedure of choice for treatment of adults with transverse maxillary deficiency greater than 7 mm. There is no consensus about the dentoskeletal effect of an orthodontic retainer on the outcome of SARPE. Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of an orthodontic retainer on dentoskeletal stability. METHODS: Ninety digitized dental casts of 30 adults undergoing SARPE were divided into 2 groups-no retention (n = 15) and retention (n = 15)-and assessed. The dental casts were obtained at 3 checkpoints: (1) 7 days on average before SARPE (preoperatively), (2) 4 months after expansion, and (3) 10 months after expansion was completed. The retention patients received a transpalatal arch just after expander removal, at checkpoint 2. The transpalatal arch was kept for 10 months after completion of the expansion (checkpoint 3 and end of the study). The dental casts were scanned with a Vivid 9i 3D laser scanner (Konica Minolta, Wayne, NJ). The distances measured were premolar and molar intercusp distances, premolar and molar intercervical distances, premolar and molar inter-WALA (Will Andrews and Lawrence Andrews) ridge distances, and palate height at the maxillary first molar. RESULTS: The planned maxillary expansion was within the expected amount (P <0.05). Palatal height at the 4-month checkpoint decreased by 0.79 mm (4.38%) (P <0.001) and again at the 10-month checkpoint by 0.38 mm (0.98%) (P >0.05) but not significantly in both groups. The premolar intercusp distance had a relapse at checkpoint 3 of 1.84 mm (7.18%) (P <0.001) in the no-retention group. Both groups had average relapses of 0.95 mm in the premolar intercervical distances, of 0.88 mm in the premolar inter-WALA ridge distances, of 1.04 mm in the molar intercusp distances, of 0.74 mm in the molar intercervical distances, and of 0.84 mm in the molar inter-WALA ridge distances (P <0.05) at checkpoint 3. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of relapse in both groups suggests that the use of a transpalatal arch as a retaining device does not improve dento-osseous stability.