The reduction in clinical and surgical exposure of trainees during COVID-19 and its impact on their training.

Tahir, Hassan; Beg, Athira Arshad; Siddiqui, Faisal

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of coronavirus disease on surgical training. Methods The cross-sectional study was conducted at the General Surgery Department of Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, from August 2019 to May 2020, and comprised surgical trainees from year 1 to 4. The subjects were interviewed and inquired about their opinion regarding the impact of coronavirus disease on their training. Data was prospectively collected in two equal phases of 5 months each, separating the phases on the basis of the application of preventive measures and changes relating to coronavirus disease. Data of cases from log books was divided into major and minor cases. RESULTS Of the 24 surgical trainees available, 18(75%) participated; 12(66.6%) females and 6(33.3%) males. There was a significant difference between the two phases, with the number of surgical case going down drastically in the second phase (p=0.005), affecting the training process. CONCLUSIONS Considering the ongoing pandemic, it may be worthwhile to look into the possibility of increasing the duration of training.