Background: The novel corona virus (COVID-19) was first diagnosed in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The healthcare specifically, departments of surgery in Southeastern Nigeria, are making modifications to cope and plan for the pandemic. Objectives: To evaluate how well surgical institutions in Southeastern Nigeria are prepared for the anticipated influx of Covid-19 patients, existing patients and to determine the adequacy of hospital provision of essential supplies and awareness creation. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional online study of two hundred and one (201) surgery resident doctors in surgical institutions in South-eastern Nigeria was conducted. Questionnaires were designed and distributed using online platforms. The data obtained was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Significance was set at P < 0.05. Consent was obtained from all respondents. Results: A total of 201 surgery resident doctors filled and submitted their questionnaires, response rate of 71.5%, out of which 50.1% agreed that hospital response to Covid-19 pandemic was inadequate, 78.3% agreed that the Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) provided by hospitals were inadequate while about 53.8% agreed that the hospital workforce was poor and inadequate and incapable of adapting to the unstable workforce during the pandemic. About 46.2% agreed that the hospitals were conducting an adequate creation of awareness with regards to the pandemic while 25% agreed that the hospital compliance with the CDC (Center for disease control) preventive protocols/guidelines in surgical institutions were adequate. There was a statistically significant association ( P = 0.019 (< 0.05); X2 = 5.517 ) between hospital type and provision of adequate Personal protective equipment for surgical procedures. Only 19% of the government hospital employees felt that adequate amount of PPEs were provided compared to 41% of private hospital employees. Conclusion: The results from this study show that the hospital response to Covid-19 pandemic and awareness creation amongst surgical institutions in Southeastern Nigeria are inadequate. Recommendations: The government should equip the health sector by providing the necessary amenities to adequately combat the challenges of surgical practice in the Covid-19 pandemic.

Background: Little is known about the factors responsible for the academic performance of clinical dentistry/dental surgery students, particularly those in their finals in Nigerian universities. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to identify the subjective factors that may affect the performance of dental surgery finalists at the undergraduate level in Nigerian dental schools and to proffer realistic suggestions to improve dental surgery education. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey of final-year dental surgery students in Nigeria was conducted using a well-structured validated online questionnaire distributed randomly through online platforms. Descriptive and inferential data analysis was done with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Chi-squares and Fischer’s exact values were calculated. Significance was set at P < 0.05. Consent was obtained from all participants. Results: Sixty-nine final-year dental surgery students completed and submitted the questionnaire. The hours spent on clinical hands-on-dental practice, dental surgery lectures/clinics attendance, and impact of particular course lecturers were the top three most agreed factors influencing the performance of dental surgery students in their examinations. A significant relationship (P = 0.027 [<0.05]; X2 = 4.873) exists between gender and the perception in that the greater cumulative number of study hours was alluded to significantly influencing performance in examinations. More females unlike males indicated that the total number of hours studied does not affect performance. A statistically significant association (P = 0.004 [<0.05]; X2 = 13.274) was also found between age grades and the influence of repeating an examination on performance. A majority of the respondents across all age grades indicated that repeating students do not always perform better or even pass the examinations. A majority of the respondents across all age grades indicated that those that have completed a degree before medical school do not always perform better in examinations. This finding also had a statistically significant association (P = 0.048 [<0.05]; X2 = 7.886). Conclusions: There is a need to coordinate efforts in the management of dental institutions to ensure that adequate attention is given to the dental surgery students at every stage of their training. Creation of dental surgery mentorship programmes may also help in the overall quality of the programme.

Background: Despite the increased usage of virtual, nonphysical resources for medical education during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, plastic surgical training still suffered adversely in some aspects. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the overall impact of virtual resources and effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on plastic surgery training among residents in Southern Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among senior plastic surgery residents in southern Nigeria using a well-structured online questionnaire carried out over a 3-month period. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software program, version 25.0. Measures were taken to significantly minimise response, answer order, and other survey research errors/bias. A pilot study was done. Consent was obtained from all participants. Results: A total of 29 plastic surgery residents completed the questionnaire. Mean age was 35.15 years with standard deviation of 6.31. The response rate was 72.5%. According to a majority of the residents, there were no significant changes in the frequency of burn, hand, and facial injury cases during the pandemic; training courses on plastic surgery (44.3%) and operative cases decreased (48.3%), whereas there was a significant increase in intraoperative teaching (27.6%) as well as simulations and conferences (41.4%). Majority of the respondents also alluded to the significant financial and psychological impacts of the pandemic on residents and a significant decline in cases with general anaesthesia as compared with cases with local anaesthesia. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a mixture of significant positive and negative changes in the plastic surgery training of residents.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted surgical training and education of medical students in various institutions. The South-eastern Nigeria situation was evaluated with respect to surgical training, with a view to identify gaps and proffer solutions. Objectives: To determine the impact of covid-19 pandemic on surgical training of undergraduate medical students, their experiences and alternatives being implemented to continue their education. Materials and Methods: Design: Cross-sectional survey amongst 181 final year medical students in South-eastern Nigeria was conducted. A structured questionnaire designed using the free software Google® Forms was utilized for the study. The questionnaire was electronically distributed randomly using online platforms. The data obtained was analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS®). Ethical approval was obtained from the appropriate ethics and research unit prior to commencement of the study. Results: In all, 181 final year medical students completed and submitted the questionnaire. Majority of the respondents (55.8%) denoted that their exposure to surgical cases in general were markedly decreased; 61.9% and 56.9% of respondents reported a slight decrease in physical examination and clerkship opportunities respectively. 51.1% indicated that a hybrid of virtual and physical classes was used with cost of data subscription being a major challenge to active online participation according to 58.3% of the respondents. Departmental conferences and case discussions reduced according to 47.8% of respondents while 56.9% attested to a reduction in opportunities to acquire basic surgical skills since the pandemic. Majority of respondents said their personal study time remained the same and 56.9% said their overall undergraduate surgery training has been slightly worse than before the pandemic. There was no statistically significant relationship associating gender with clerkship opportunities, physical examination opportunities or exposure to surgery cases in the Covid-19 pandemic era using a p-value of <0.05 as significant (Chi-square 1.395, p-value 0.85); Chi-square-2.985, p-value- 0.40, Chi-square-3.325, p-value-0.51 respectively). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the clinical and teaching components of undergraduate surgical training in South-Eastern Nigeria. It has, however, led to increased adoption of digital technology which should be further explored in the face of current realities. We recommend that there should be a flexible re-adjustment of the syllables and pattern of surgical training of medical students to accommodate unavoidable events that can disrupt the training such as the covid-19 pandemic in a bid to prevent future disruptions in training.

Background: Upon graduation from medical school, doctors in Nigeria undergo a compulsory internship program which includes rotation through four core specialties: Internal medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Surgery. Interns are expected to acquire basic surgical skills during their rotation in surgery. Objectives: To identify the factors that affect the acquisition of basic surgical skills by surgery interns (house officers) during their one-year internship program in teaching hospitals in Southeast Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A total of 73 surgery interns were sampled using a descriptive cross-sectional, epidemiological survey that employed self-administered Google forms. The semi-structured questionnaire was electronically distributed to interns currently in surgery rotations in their internship program in South-east, Nigeria. The data was analyzed using IBM’s Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 and presented in tables and charts. Consent was obtained from all respondents and measures were put in place to limit different forms of bias. Results: The most important factors that negatively affected the acquisition of surgical skills by interns were fatigue from overwork (55.4%), poor mentorship (47.3%) and inadequate skill training courses (44.6%). There were no statistically significant correlations amongst the factors that affected the acquisition of basic surgical skills by house officers. Conclusion: Some of the major limitations to acquisition of surgical skills by house officers that have undergone the surgery rotation were identified to be the workload, poor mentorship and inadequate structured skill training courses. Recommendation: Provision of better work conditions to limit work fatigue and improve learning. The training of house officers undergoing their surgery rotation should be supplemented by periodic assessment and mentorship programs by senior doctor to improve the acquisition of basic surgical skills by house officers.