Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Surgical Residency Training: Time to digitalization

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted surgical residency training worldwide. This study aims to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical residency training and psychological well-being in a Tunisian residents cohort, and to emphasize on the importance of digital simulation-based training through a review of different tools reported in the literature. Methods A cross-sectional survey of surgical residents was conducted at our surgical division of the teaching hospital, between 1st and 30 December 2020. A study-specific electronic questionnaire designed using the free software Google Forms was distributed to 36 residents via emails and Whatsapp. Results At the end of the study period, only 26 participants (72%) completed and submitted the questionnaire. Most respondents reported the negative impact of the pandemic on clinical and surgical training. Anxiety was noticed in all participants; more than half presented depression. During the pandemic, clinical activity was mainly based on "patient bedside" learning (50%) and college courses via webinars (38.4%). Surgical training was mainly based on the medico-surgical encyclopedia (65.4%), surgical videos on YouTube® (61.5%) and emergent surgeries attendance (53.8%). There was a lack of didactic teaching programs implementation during the pandemic. Conclusions There is a pressing need to improve surgical training during residency. Simulation-based training using digital tools is the best way to improve psychomotor skills outside of the operating theatre.