13% are concerned about completing graduation requirements and 3% feel they will need an additional year of training.
During the pandemic Covid-19 There has been a decrease in the average number of weekly hours, both in clinical practice and in healthcare involvement, registering a drop of -5.6 and -1.2 hours, respectively. These are the data that show the result of a survey carried out on residents during the pandemicpublished on the preprint platform MedRxiv.
Most residents surveyed reported a decline in the quality of educationthe time dedicated to organized didactics and the participation of the treating physician in academics as a result of the pandemic. According to the results, 32 percent of students are concerned that this situation will reduce their preparation to become professionals. In turn, 13 percent are concerned about completing graduation requirements and 3 percent feel they will need an additional year of training.
The study has been carried out in a health care network in the northeast of the U.S and, “unsurprisingly, residents in various specialties were affected in different ways, illustrating that it is essential to develop personalized curricular changes and create innovative opportunities to improve education“, point out in the researchers.
A total of 84 residents responded to the survey, belonging to five different specialties: General Surgery (24 percent), Internal Medicine (52 percent), Obstetrics and Gynecology (11 percent), Pathology and Radiology (7 percent each). Of those surveyed, the response rate for each of these specialties was 91, 60, 67, 75 and 50 percent, respectively.
30% of the weekly hours are dedicated to covid patients
Nuvance Health residents reported spending between 29.3 and 39.3 hours per week caring for patients with Covid-19, and Internal Medicine residents reported the most hours between 43.3 and 53.3. Likewise, students perceived spending 5.6 hours less per week doing clinical work during the pandemic. However, when analyzed by specialty, the difference in clinical work was quite variable.
The residents of Internal Medicine reported an increase of 5.1 hours per week, while those of General Surgery Y Obstetrics and Gynecology reported a decrease of 17 hours and 24.4 hours per week, respectively. Similarly, the average difference in the amount of independent study time was virtually unchanged before and during the pandemic. However, there were significant differences when examined by specialty, with only Internal Medicine residents reporting less time spent studying.
The Covid-19 has affected the system medical care of the United States in profound and unforeseen ways, and the full extent of its effects will likely take years to understand and quantify. So far, many publications have emerged with observations, recommendations and essays on the patient care, specific treatment modalities and job security. To date, there is little literature available on the effects of the pandemic on the education of residents. Residency programs across the country have been forced to make sweeping changes to their regular operations and have appropriately maintained a focus on safety and patient care.
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“Perceived participation in attendance decreased overall by 1.2 hours per week” |
A side effect of many of these changes has been a decrease in protected time for scholars. Overall, there was a decrease of 1.7 hours per week in the amount of time spent on academic and didactic conferences. Only residents of Pathology and Obstetrics Y Gynecology reported an increase in didactics, while residents of Internal Medicine on average they perceived a decrease of 3.4 hours per week.
Interestingly, “despite the introduction and implementation of the video conferencewhich greatly facilitated meetings across our network, perceived attendance engagement decreased overall by 1.2 hours per week,” they explain in the study. With video conferencing, presenters can share screens from remote locations, colleagues can meet in large groups safely and meetings can be recorded for viewing outside of scheduled hours for added convenience.
“However, despite these technological advantages and decreased clinical responsibilities for some assistants and residents, we did not see an increase in didactics as expected,” the researchers conclude.
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