Abstract Background The declaration of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic imposed population-wide measures to contain the virus. This had a knock-on effect on surgical training. An international survey by our group highlighted the need for consultant mentor to lead the recovery of training. Therefore, this project assesses the perspective of trainers on the impact of COVID-19 on surgical training and to explore ways of mitigating this. Methods This is a quantitative study encompassing semi-structured interviews of international educationalists. The verbatim transcriptions, underwent thematic analysis. Results Eleven educationalists were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed ten topics: (1) Main areas affected (2) Intensity of impact (3) Causes of impact (4) Pro-activeness (5) National guidance (6) Ways to mitigate impact (7) Effects on minimally invasive training (8) Staff morale, mental health and staff support (9) Mentorship and (10) Recovery of training. The following mitigation techniques were suggested: (i) supervised training throughout the patient journey (ii) trainer led simulation training (iii) use of immersive technologies (iv) individualised training targets (v) dedicated training lists (vi) trainee proactiveness, enhanced by the introduction of a chief resident (vii) structured mentorship (viii) need for national guidelines. Conclusion Although surgical services and training are normalising, surgical trainees have a significant gap of surgical exposure accounting for the two years of the pandemic. The current qualitative study explores the perceptive of international experts on effective ways of bridging that gap and provides a practical pathway to achieving recovery of training in the post pandemic era.