Initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public health training: participatory action research to understand experiences in the East Midlands

Abstract

Background Specialty public health training consists of 48 months of practice across the domains of health protection, healthcare public health and health improvement. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, activity pivoted towards pandemic management and the response became a significant element of registrar practice. This research aimed to understand the impact of this shift in focus on registrars’ role and training. Methods Participatory action research comprising (i) a reflective survey sent to all specialty registrars in the East Midlands training region and (ii) Delphi rounds with survey respondents to generate consensus and define themes. Results Sixteen (44%) registrars completed the survey with 12 (75%) participating in the Delphi rounds. The early pandemic response stages both challenged and re-affirmed registrars’ role and identity in public health and training while providing unique and diverse learning and development. Underpinning these themes is a variability in experience depending on prior experience, placement and training stage. Conclusions The pandemic impacted the practice, training and home-life of registrars who were required to negotiate significant challenge and uncertainty. This original work adds to a growing body of correspondence and opinion pieces articulating the experiences and challenges of medical and public health education during a pandemic.

Comparing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on training of public health Specialty Registrars starting before or after its onset

“…Views of the pre-pandemic group were captured in a previous publication [ 1 ], themes remained broadly similar showing no major change in the sentiment of the cohort regarding negative experiences of remote working. Learning continues to be impacted, with some Registrars thriving and others faltering.…”

“…This consisted of ten open questions relating to training experiences, followed by a section on demographic variables that was developed from the preceding research [ 1 ]. An additional question about mental health was included based on findings from a recent GMC survey [ 3 ].…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the training of public health Specialty Registrars [ 1 ]. Public health training lasts a minimum of 48 months in the UK, and individuals from medical and non-medical backgrounds can apply.…”

“…It has a reputation for developing highly skilled scientists, practitioners, and decision-makers [ 2 ]. The early phase of the pandemic dramatically impacted training in terms of content, workload, pace, level of supervision, and online working [ 1 ]. As the pandemic continues, new public health Registrars join training and may experience different challenges than those who started before the pandemic (see Table 1 ).…”

“…At the start of the pandemic, colleagues conducted a modified Delphi group to understand how the start of the pandemic challenged public health training in the East Midlands region of England. This found that Registrars had a firm identity as public health professionals, variable experiences of training, and had to adapt to rapid changes in work-life balances [ 1 ]. Our research aims to build on previous work by comparing experiences of pre- and post-pandemic Registrars.…”