Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Post-Graduate Medical Education and Training in India: Lessons Learned and Opportunities Offered.

Abstract

Hands-on or practice-based learning is the foundational objective of postgraduate teaching and training. A skilled and competent postgraduate resident is critical to the country’s health needs and is more relevant in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The postgraduate medical training in India is speciality-specific and based on a structured curriculum and syllabus to achieve precise educational goals and objectives. The impact of this pandemic on postgraduate medical education and training is controversial, challenging, unknown, and far-reaching. The exceptional contagious nature of the virus and country-wide lockdowns have tremendously decreased hospital visiting patients. Abolition of outpatient and inpatient services, disruptions in clinical postings, curtailment of elective operations and procedures have adversely affected the training of residents and fellowship students in India and abroad. Apart from this, research work, mentoring, academic conferences, and workshops that offer learning experiences to these residents have been cancelled or suspended, thus denying them a chance to achieve domain knowledge and enhance their skills. Although this pandemic has offered new learning modes like teleconsultation, videoconferencing, virtual simulations, digital podcasts, etc., how much actual knowledge transfer and skill gain will be achieved is unanswered. Despite this disruption, this pandemic has offered a golden opportunity to relook at the current PG resident education and training programme. The lessons learned from this adversity offer medical universities, medical educators, and regulatory authorities many opportunities to develop a novel and innovative curriculum that enables the current and future residents to achieve the necessary proficiency and competency.