Analysis of the impact of the pandemic on surgical residency programs during the first wave in Argentina: A cross – sectional study

Abstract

IntroductionCOVID – 19 emerged as a global pandemic in 2020 and affected the teaching methods at all levels. Surgical education has also been significantly affected by this pandemic, but the effect remains unknown. We developed a survey in order to obtain more information on how this pandemic affected the training and education of surgical residency programs. Material and methodsCross-sectional study. We surveyed 195 residents of various surgical programs, from August 20th to September 30th, 2020, in Córdoba, Argentina. The effect of the COVID – 19 pandemic was analyzed on surgical training, on the academic program, and professional burnout. ResultsThe volume of surgical cases performed during the pandemic decreased dramatically, affecting mainly residents of lower years. Comparing the number of cases (>7) that residents carried out per week (Pre pandemic vs pandemic), we found that PGY – 1: 47% vs 9%; p = 0.01 and PGY – 2: 46% vs 8%; p = 0.03. 83.2% reported that the impact of the pandemic affected their surgical training negatively and 45% were not adequately trained to carry out their surgical activity in the residency program. On the other hand, 71.3% affirmed that this health emergency allowed them to dedicate more time to the development of their academic training. ConclusionThis is the first cross – sectional survey study that shows the impact of the pandemic on surgical residences during the first wave in Argentina. Surgical training performed by residents had a negative impact.