TP8.2.22 Mind the Gap: Overcoming the disruption of surgical teaching during COVID-19 redeployment

Abstract

AimsDue to the pandemic, surgical FY1s in our trust were re-deployed to cover medical patients. In addition to cancellation of surgery-specific teaching, there was less time spent by FY1s with senior surgical colleagues during the normal working day. Our FY1s appeared less confident in managing unwell surgical patients, and there was dissatisfaction for both FY1s and seniors.This project aimed to identify the particular areas of concern and deliver a tailored teaching session.MethodsSurgical FY1s and SpRs were surveyed. We received 10 (83%) FY1 responses and 5 (42%) SpR responses. Management of common surgical presentations, routine administrative and clerical tasks were identified as areas of need. A teaching session was delivered via online conferencing software and uploaded to a video sharing website where it could be viewed at a later date. Seven of 12 (58%) surgical FY1s attended live and completed a post-teaching session feedback survey.ResultsSeven (100%) FY1s rated the session ‘very useful’, and a majority found the ‘common surgical presentations’ section of most value. All respondents felt more confident with both clerking surgical patients and administrative tasks following the refresher session.ConclusionsThis project demonstrated the need for additional training sessions to compensate for loss of opportunities due to re-deployment. Utilising remote teaching proved an acceptable alternative to previous in-person options. The tailored refresher session successfully improved confidence in target areas and should be delivered routinely.