Resident experiences with virtual education during the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

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Burnout Assessment Among Surgeons and Surgical Trainees During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

“…Among the 29 included studies conducted between April 2020 and December 2021, most were published in 2020 (n=16, 55.2%), 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 whereas the remaining papers (n=13, 44.8%) were published in 2021. 4 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 The majority of studies utilized cross-sectional, quantitative methods (n=27), 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 with only a small minority being qualitative (n=2). 4 , 34 The sample size varied widely across studies, ranging from 24 to 2,040 for quantitative studies and from 16 to 870 for qualitative studies.…”

“… 4 , 34 The sample size varied widely across studies, ranging from 24 to 2,040 for quantitative studies and from 16 to 870 for qualitative studies. Most of the studies were about the healthcare system in the United States (n=17), 19 , 21 , 22 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 42 , 43 while the remaining reports were from Singapore (n=3), 20 , 24 , 25 Egypt (n=2), 18 ,40 the United Kingdom (n=1),4 France (n=1), 44 Brazil (n=1), 24 Pakistan (n=1), 23 the Netherlands (n=1), 45 Romania (n=1) 31 and the Czech Republic (n=1). 41 Almost all studies included surgical trainees (residents, fellows) as part of the studied population (28 studies, 96.6%).…”

“…Specifically, the 10 studies using the MBI reported rates of burnout ranging from 6.0% to 86.0%. 21 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 38 , 40 , 44 Additionally, the two studies that used the Mini-Z burnout assessment scale reported rates of burnout of 14.7% and 21.8%.27,28 Two other studies assessed burnout rates through the PFI, and reported burnout rates of 15.9% and 34.0%.20,43 Less commonly used tools to measure burnout included the UBOS (1 study, burnout = 9.0%), 45 the Professional Quality of Life Measure V5 (1 study, burnout = 48.9%) 24 and the RSWBI (1 study, burnout = 51.5%). 37 However, not all studies used previously validated tools to measure rates of burnout.…”

“… 25 , 38 , 43 The highest reported rate of burnout was among a cohort of plastic surgery residents related specifically to their experience with virtual education: 88% of residents expressed being always, often or occasionally burned out and 79% were emotionally drained from videoconferencing. 36 …”

“…Residents in 5 (17.2%) of the studies noted that the virtual format had a markedly negative impact on surgical education. 18 , 26 , 29 , 36 , 39 In contrast, 3 studies (10.3%) suggested that the move to a virtual education format was one of the successes pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. 19 , 29 , 34 Additional factors that were considered positive included use of telehealth (2 studies, 7.0%), 26 , 34 flexibility in schedules (1 study, 3.4%),34 work from home (1 study, 3.4%)4 and increased comradery among residents (1 study, 3.4%).…”