Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Training of Surgical Resident Doctors at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Studies in many countries have reported that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted surgical residency training. While a few qualitative studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of this disruption in Nigeria, a country with a small surgical workforce, no known quantitative research has assessed the effect of the pandemic on surgical residency training in the country. We, therefore, conducted this study to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 on the training of resident doctors in surgical specialties at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria, using quantitative indicators. Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to surgical resident doctors across different subspecialties at UCH, Ibadan. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, chi-squared test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and logistic regression. Results: A total of 87 surgical trainees (response rate, 89.7%) participated in the survey. Some surgical trainees reported an increase in overall working hours (28.6%) and the frequency of weekend calls (9.5%). Only 22.4% continued to work in their primary subspecialty. In comparison with the pre- pandemic period, there was a significant reduction (% deviation in mean±standard deviation; p value) in the time, hours per week, spent in the outpatient clinic (−38±31; p < 0.001), on ward rounds (−25±96; p < 0.001), and in the theater (−35±87; p < 0.001), and major surgeries performed (−48±55; p < 0.001) at the height of the pandemic. Senior surgical trainees were half as likely as junior trainees to feel that the pandemic would cause an extension in the normal duration of their training (adjusted odds ratio, 0.64; confidence interval, 0.20– 2.01; p = 0.444). Conclusion: The pandemic caused a reduction in work hours spent performing subspecialty duties and the procedures performed by surgical trainees at UCH, Ibadan. Hospitals should develop strategies to minimize disruptions to surgical residency training programs during pandemics and other healthcare crises.