Supplemental Table 1: Definitions of faculty type and criteria for inclusion
Type Inclusion Criteria
Full-time surgical faculty Professors with residency training in their department’s surgical specialty AND; titles of assistant, clinical assistant, associate, clinical associate, professor, or clinical professor; AND evidence of ongoing clinical practice.
Multidisciplinary clinical faculty
Professors with clinical practices but clinical training other than their department’s surgical specialty (i.e., dentist in PRS unit, cardiologist in cardiothoracic department, audiologist in
otolaryngology department, nephrologist in urology department).
Research faculty Professors listed as research professors, those with only PhDs, or those with other degrees and research profiles but no listed clinical practice.
Supplemental Table 2: Characteristics of Institutions with PRS divisions versus Institutions with PRS departments
PRS Divisions
n=64
PRS Department
s n=22
P
No. of academic departments, mean ± SD
24.0 ± 4.7 25.7 ± 7.1 0.081
No. of surgical departments, mean ± SD 6.1 ± 1.5 6.8 ± 1.7 0.007 Presence of other surgical departments at same
institution
Cardiothoracic, n (%) 11 (17.2) 9 (40.9) 0.033 Dermatology, n (%) 48 (75.0) 17 (77.3) 0.750 Neurosurgery, n (%) 57 (89.0) 19 (86.4) 0.328 Ophthalmology, n (%) 58 (90.6) 19 (86.4) >0.999
Orthopedics, n (%) 62 (96.9) 22 (100.0) >0.999 Otolaryngology, n (%) 52 (81.3) 20 (90.9) 0.171
Urology, n (%) 40 (62.5) 20 (90.9) <0.001 Vascular, n (%) 1 (1.6) 2 (9.1) 0.153
Surgery, n (%) 64 (100.0) 22 (100.0) >0.999 No. of Department of Surgery divisions (mean, SD) 8.2 ± 2.9 7.2 ± 3.9 0.5003 Footnote: Mann Whitney U and Fischer’s exact was used to compare continuous and
categorical variables, respectively. Number of academic departments, surgical departments, and divisions do not include PRS. Surgical departments include those listed in table.
PRS=Plastic surgery. P values < 0.05 are bolded.
Supplemental Table 3: Differences in Faculty Size between Plastic Surgery Divisions and other Surgical Departments at Same Institution
CT n=11
Otolaryngology n=52
Urology n=39 Mean ±
SD
P Mean ±
SD
P Mean ±
SD
P Full-time surgical
professors
5.5 ± 6.1 0.019 5
14.3 ± 11.3
<0.0001 9.0 ± 7.5 <0.000 1 Part-time surgical
professors
-0.55 ± 2.7
0.750 0
2.9 ± 8.4 <0.0001 1.6 ± 3.3 <0.000 1 Multidisciplinary
clinical faculty
-1.0 ± 1.8 0.656 2
2.1 ± 6.1 0.0060 -0.49 ± 1.1
0.1676
Footnote: Wilcoxon matched-pairs test was used to compare faculty sizes at different surgical units within institutions. Mean difference between surgical subspecialty department and PRS division is listed. Negative values indicate more faculty for Plastic Surgery. Positive values indicate more faculty for listed surgical subspecialty. CT= Cardiothoracic Surgery. P < 0.05 are bolded.
Supplemental Table 4: Differences in Faculty Size between Plastic Surgery Departments and other Surgical Departments at Same Institution
CT n=9
Otolaryngology n=20
Urology n=20
Mean ± SD P Mean ±
SD
P Mean ±
SD
P Full-time surgical
professors
2.7 ± 8.6 0.8359 12.2 ± 6.0 <0.000 1
5.3 ± 5.3 0.0004 Part-time surgical
professors
0.11 ± 0.44 >0.999 1.8 ± 7.1 0.0938 -0.8 ± 3.8 >0.9999 Multidisciplinary
clinical faculty
-2.8 ± 5.2 0.7500 1.4 ± 6.2 0.8052 -1.5 ± 3.6 0.4629
Footnote: Wilcoxon matched-pairs test was used to compare faculty sizes at different surgical units within institutions. Mean difference between surgical subspecialty department and PRS division is listed. Negative values indicate more faculty for Plastic Surgery. Positive values indicate more faculty for listed surgical subspecialty. CT= Cardiothoracic Surgery. P < 0.05 are bolded.
Supplemental Table 5: Hand Fellowship Trained Faculty in PRS Units versus Orthopedic Surgery Departments at Same Institution.
Mean of differences ± SD P
PRS Divisions +1.8 ± 2.7 <0.0001
PRS
Departments
+1.1 ± 2.8 0.0529
Footnote: Wilcoxon matched-pairs test was used to compare faculty sizes within institutions. P <
0.05 are bolded. Mean of differences between surgical subspecialty department and PRS division is listed. Negative values indicate more faculty for Plastic Surgery. Positive values indicate more faculty for Orthopedic Surgery. PRS=Plastic Surgery.
Supplemental Table 6: Division/Department Research Infrastructure Divisions
n=64
Department s n=22
P
USNWR Medical School for Research, mean ± SD 41.8 ± 26.7 41.9 ± 26.5 0.964 Doximity Integrated Plastic Surgery Program
Research Rank, mean ± SD
51.4 ± 34.2 45.5 ± 37.0 0.407
No. of Research Professors, mean ± SD 0.35 ± 1.0 0.73 ± 1.4 0.041 7 No. of PRS units with basic science research lab, n
(%)
24 (37.5) 14 (63.6) 0.046 Faculty research output, mean ± SD
Publications 40.1 ± 30.2 40.0 ± 19.9 0.514 Citations 937.8 ±
966.4
925.7 ± 654.6
0.557 H-index 10.9 ± 5.1 11.4 ± 4.5 0.482 NIH Funding
No. of units with funded faculty, n (%) 26 (40.625) 12 (54.545) 0.322 No. of funded faculty per unit, mean ± SD 1.031 ±
1.851
0.727 ± 0.767
0.586
% of funded faculty per unit, mean ± SD 7.4% ± 11.2%
6.2% ± 7.0 0.699 No. of NIH grants per unit, mean ± SD 10.078 ±
25.668
5.045 ± 10.247
0.564 Total funding per unit (in USD), mean ± SD 3,125,000 ±
8,751,000
1,678,000 ± 4,083,000
0.493 Funding per faculty member (in USD), mean ± SD 187,109 ±
493,823
232,696 ± 841,380
0.543
Footnote: Data only collected for full-time surgical faculty. Mann Whitney U and Fischer’s exact was used to compare continuous and categorical variables, respectively. P values < 0.05 are bolded. USNWR=US News and World Report. PRS=Plastic surgery. NIH=National Institutes of Health.
Supplemental Table 7: PRS Division/Department Involvement in Medical Education and PRS Training
Divisions n=64
Department s n=22
P
Info for medical students on PRS unit websites, n (%) 25 (39.1) 15 (68.2) 0.026
Away rotation offered, n (%) 33 (51.6) 8 (36.4) 0.457
Doximity Integrated Plastic Surgery Program, Reputation, mean, SD
48.1 ± 30.4
42.2 ± 33.1 0.362
% of Integrated Residency on just PRS, mean ± SD 68.5 ± 7.3 71.8 ± 6.5 0.278 4
No. of fellowships offered, mean ± SD 0.55 ±
0.93
1.6 ± 1.8 0.005
Footnote: Mann Whitney U and Fischer’s exact was used to compare continuous and categorical variables, respectively. P values < 0.05 are bolded. PRS=Plastic surgery.
Supplemental Table 8: Trainee Outcomes
Divisions n=64
Departments n=22
P No. of former students per PRS unit who are now
PGY1/PGY2, mean ± SD
2.8 ± 2.5 2.8 ± 2.0 0.699
Trainee Research Output, mean ± SD
Publications by former medical students during medical school
1.7 ± 3.2 1.4 ± 2.6 0.727 Citations by former medical students during medical
school
16.6 ± 59.8 8.9 ± 31.2 0.3124 Publications by former residents during residency 7.0 ± 10.9 10.7 ± 12.2 0.002
Citations by former residents during residency 97.88 ± 188.1 98.34 ± 168.5 0.3212 Publications by former fellows during fellowship 2.4 ± 3.1 2.0 ± 2.8 0.3357 Citations by former fellows during fellowship 25.75 ± 40.15 40.88 ± 114.4 0.6357 Footnote: Mann Whitney U and Fischer’s exact was used to compare continuous and
categorical variables, respectively. P values < 0.05 are bolded.
