Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on anesthesia resident’s training program in Cairo University Hospital

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the training process of anesthesia residents in Cairo University Hospital regarding technical skills, operative, and critical care experience. Methods This cross-sectional survey study included two groups of anesthesia residents according to the time of their residency in relation to the pandemic (before-pandemic group [N = 44] and during-pandemic group [N = 42]). The participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their training. The questionnaire included technical skills experience (regional anesthesia, vascular access, and advanced airway techniques, soft tissue ultrasound), operative and critical care experience, and duration of intensive care unit (ICU) rotation. The quality of training was graded as adequate, moderate, or deficient training according to the number of performed procedure/managed cases. Comparisons of continuous data were done using the Mann–Whitney test, and qualitative categorical was analyzed using the chi-square test. Results All the participants completed the questionnaire. The training in the during-pandemic group was lesser than that in the before-pandemic group for most of the technical skills except for soft tissue ultrasound which was more in the during-pandemic group. The operative experience was less in the during-pandemic group than that in the before-pandemic group. On the other hand, the ICU experience was more in the during-pandemic group than that in the before-pandemic group. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the training program of anesthesiology residents with regard to elective procedures and produced over-training in critical care subspeciality