1. COVID-19 impact on Surgical Training and Recovery Planning (COVID-STAR) - A cross-sectional observational study
- Author
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Gina Weston-Petrides, Alexander Wilkins, Adam Peckham-Cooper, Joshua Michael Clements, Raghuram Boyapati, Deena Harji, Abdul Badran, Elizabeth Kane, Liusaidh McClymont, Radhika Dua, George Dovell, Shaneel Patel, S.C. McKay, Emma Barlow, Walid Mohamed, Josh Burke, Vimal J. Gokani, Omar Nasher, Matthew Stovell, Duncan Steele, Mohamed Rabie, Anthony Bashyam, Ashan Jayasekera, Benjamin Baker, Rachel Thomas, Sophie Rintoul-Hoad, Catherine Zhang, Deirdre Nally, Dominic Summers, Martin King, Manish George, Sotonye Tolofari, and Panchali Sarmah
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Surgical training ,Specialty ,Surgical workforce ,Specialties, Surgical ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Medicine ,Humans ,National level ,Prospective Studies ,Pandemic ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,COVID-19 ,General Medicine ,United Kingdom ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Impact ,Education, Medical, Graduate ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Cohort ,Physical therapy ,Commentary ,030211 gastroenterology & hepatology ,Surgery ,Observational study ,Female ,business ,Ireland ,Healthcare system - Abstract
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes to healthcare systems which impact the delivery of surgical training. This study aimed to investigate the qualitative impact of COVID-19 on surgical training in the United Kingdom (UK) & Republic of Ireland (ROI) Methods This national, collaborative, cross-sectional study involving 13 surgical trainee associations distributed a pan-surgical specialty questionnaire on the impact of COVID-19 on surgical training over 4 weeks in May 2020. Various aspects of training were assessed. Results 810 completed responses were analysed (males = 401, females = 390) from all deaneries and training grades. The perceived negative overall impact of the pandemic on surgical training experience was significant. (Weighted average = 8.66). 41% of respondents (n = 301) were redeployed with 74% redeployed for >4 weeks. Complete loss of training was reported in elective operating (69.5%), outpatient activity (67.3%) and endoscopy (69.5%). A reduction of >50% was reported in emergency operating (48%) and completion of work-based assessments (WBAs) (46%). 3.3% (n = 17) of respondents reported plans to leave medicine altogether. Cancellations in study leave and regional teaching programmes without rescheduling were reported in 72% and 60% of the cohort respectively. Elective operative exposure and WBAs completion were the primary reported factors affecting potential trainee progression. Only 9% of trainees reported that they would definitely meet all required competencies. Conclusion COVID-19 has had a negative impact on surgical training across all grades and specialties, with implications for trainee progression, recruitment and retention of the surgical workforce. Further investigation of the long-term impact at a national level is required.
- Published
- 2020