The Impact of COVID-19 on European Health Care and Urology Trainees

Abstract

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020 [1]. Unanticipated changes to health care have occurred and continue to evolve. The European Society of Residents in Urology (ESRU) national communication officers and board members have discussed changes to national health care systems and the impact on urology residents from the top five European countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. Here we provide recommendations on smart learning to reduce the impact on the learning curve of residents.The first cases appeared in France (January 24) followed by Germany (January 27), the UK and Spain (January 31), and Italy (February 21). As of April 7, 2020, the total number of cases per million population was highest in Spain and lowest in the UK (Fig. 1). Lockdown was imposed in Italy, Spain, France, and the UK on March 9, 13, 16, and 24, respectively, with Italy being the quickest, 17 d after the first case.

Telemedicine and Smart Working: Recommendations of the European Association of Urology

“…The year 2020 is an exceptional year as the annual congresses of the European Association of Urology (EAU) and the American Urological Association were physically suspended and have become entirely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it is crucial, more than ever, to keep learning and sharing knowledge through virtual platforms [26,27], including social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as urological webinars organized by the different associations [28][29][30][31]. Several platforms can be used to create webinars and congresses, for example, LogMeIn (https://www.…”

Implementation and strategies to ensure adequate coordination within a Urology Department during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The COVID-19 outbreak has led to cancelation or minimization of all elective major deferrable surgeries (33). In Italy and Spain, patients with scheduled oncological interventions were moved to hospitals considered COVID-19 free (13,33). Even face to face and diagnostic activities underwent a great reduction, and in some cases a complete cancellation.…”

COVID-19's Impact on Italian Urology

“…Resident's programs in Europe and in Italy are just harassed from a lack of adequate academic and surgical training (12)(13)(14)(15) and it is known how its associated frustration may lead to burnout (16). Several papers described a global slowdown of Urology residence program during the pandemic (17)(18)(19). Social Media and smart learning implementation have been proposed as valid tools to supply scientific knowledge during this scenario (20,21).…”