Survey of Attitudes on Professionalism in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Background The purpose of this study is to analyze the current attitudes toward professionalism,the core values, and the type of professionalism among plastic surgeons in Korea to establish acode of ethics regarding the role of professionalism for plastic and reconstructive surgeons.Methods From March 9, to July 1, 2012, face-to-face and mail surveys were conductedtargeting the 325 participants (256 specialists and 69 residents) who are registered membersof the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. The proportion of each responsegiven to an item was obtained through statistical processing through frequency analysis. TheMann–Whitney U test was used to compare the differences in the responses between theresident group and the specialist group.Results The survey results on the perception of professionalism in plastic surgery showed thata high proportion (90.5%) of the respondents viewed the future of plastic surgeons as bright.Through evaluation of the importance of the value items,”professional dominance” (4.58 pts),”autonomy” (4.45 pts), ”lifestyle” (4.34 pts), and ”commercialism” (4.31 pts) were assessed ascritical values. ”Altruism” (3.84 pts), “interpersonal competence” (3.79 pts), and ”social justice”(3.61 pts) were viewed as lesser values. This difference showed the characteristics of anentrepreneurial outlook.Conclusions Plastic surgeons should pursue excellence, humanism, accountability, andaltruism in order to overcome the crisis of professionalism in plastic surgery. In order todevelop the necessary competencies of professionals, vocational education should be arrangedby the Korean Society of Plastic Surgeons, and an appropriate code of ethics should beestablished.