Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Otolaryngology Residency Training: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

BackgroundTraining in surgical specialties has declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. A study was carried out to further analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on specific aspects of clinical, training, and research activities performed by the otolaryngology residents in Spain.MethodsA cross-sectional qualitative study was conducted during the last two weeks of February 2021. The study consisted of an online survey taken by otolaryngology residents who had undertaken one-year continuing training from February 15, 2020 to February 15, 2021 and consisted of 26 questions exploring the impact of the COVID-19 on the health of the ENT residents and training activities. Categorical variables were reported as frequency and percentage. When indicated, Pearson´s Chi-square test (c2) with Yates´s correction and Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) were used.Results143 completed surveys were received from 264 Residents (54.17%). 36 residents (25.2%) have suffered from the disease due to SARS-CoV-2. Most of them only developed mild symptoms (86.1%), with 3 requiring hospitalization (8.3%). The origin of infection was unknown in all cases and the need for confinement was principally due to either attending an asymptomatic patient in 9 cases (6.3%) or to being in close contact with an asymptomatic person off hospital grounds in 22 (15.4%). 60.1% of the residents surveyed reported having lost more than 6 months of their training period, and in 18.8% of cases, it was as high as 10 and 12 months. There has been a reduction of more than 75% of what was planned in surgical training (p < 0.05) of tympanoplasty, mastoidectomy, stapedectomy, cochlear implants, endoscopic sinonasal and anterior skull base surgery, septoplasty and turbinoplasty.ConclusionsThe decline in ENT activity and residents having to assist in other COVID-19 units during the most critical moments of the pandemic, has caused the main reduction in their training capacity. Virtual activities have been widely accepted, but they have not completely replaced all residents’ training needs. Specialized ENT training should be extended from 6 months to 1 year to ensure adequate training, especially for recovering the surgical Otology and Rhinology hands-on training lost during the pandemic.

Factors associated with the attraction and retention of family and community medicine and nursing residents in rural settings: a qualitative study

“…Feelings of isolation and a lack of integration are personal factors that were identified in other studies [50], and the current results point in that direction since friendships or support networks were identified as very important and fundamental for retention. It should be noted that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during training influenced the ability to form bonds [51][52][53]. The experience of being in closed villages and the difficulty of integrating during training may have been consequences of the social impact of the pandemic.…”