Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on orthopaedic and trauma surgery training in Europe

  • PDF / 521,937 Bytes
  • 9 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
  • 70 Downloads / 200 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT


ORIGINAL PAPER

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on orthopaedic and trauma surgery training in Europe Panayiotis D. Megaloikonomos 1 & Martin Thaler 2 & Vasilios G. Igoumenou 3 & Tommaso Bonanzinga 4 & Marko Ostojic 5 & André Faria Couto 6 & Jasmin Diallo 7 & Ismail Khosravi 2 Received: 28 June 2020 / Accepted: 16 July 2020 # SICOT aisbl 2020

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on orthopaedic and trauma surgery training in Europe by conducting an online survey among orthopaedic trainees. Methods The survey was conducted among members of the Federation of Orthopaedic and Trauma Trainees in Europe (FORTE). It consisted of 24 questions (single-answer, multiple-answer, Likert scales). Orthopaedic trainees’ demographic data (six questions), clinical role changes (four questions), institutional changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic (nine questions), and personal considerations (five questions) were examined. Results Three hundred and twenty-seven trainees from 23 European countries completed the survey. Most trainees retained their customary clinical role (59.8%), but a significant number was redeployed to COVID-19 units (20.9%). A drastic workload decrease during the pandemic was reported at most institutions. Only essential activities were performed at 57.1% of institutions and drastic disruptions were reported at 36.0%. Of the respondents, 52.1% stated that faculty-led education was restricted and 46.3% pursued self-guided learning, while 58.6% stated that surgical training was significantly impaired. Concerns about the achievement of annual training goals were expressed by 58.2% of the participants, while 25.0% anticipated the need for an additional year of training. Conclusions The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic significantly affected orthopaedic and trauma training in Europe. Most trainees felt the decrease in clinical, surgical, and educational activities would have a detrimental effect on their training. Many of them consulted remote learning options to compensate training impairment, stating that after the COVID-19 pandemic electronic educational approaches may become more relevant in future. Keywords COVID-19 . SARS-CoV-2 . Pandemic . Orthopaedic training . Federation of Orthopaedic and Trauma Trainees in Europe

Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-020-04742-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Panayiotis D. Megaloikonomos [email protected] 1

First Department of Orthopaedics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, ATTIKON University Hospital, 1 Rimini Street, 12462 Haidari, Athens, Greece

2

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

3

Spine Center Stuttgart, Diakonie-Kinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

4

Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy

5

Department of Orthopaedics, University Hospital Mostar , Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

6