Impact of COVID-19 on Saudi Neurosurgery Residency: Trainers' and Trainees' Perspectives

Abstract

Introduction: After the official announcement of the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020, the disease impacted most aspects of health care delivery, especially postgraduate education and training. Method: A cross-sectional, online questionnaire-based assessment was performed. The study participants involved neurosurgery residents and program directors (PDs) across the country between May 16 and May 27, 2020. Results: Approximately 74 of 95 (77.9%) of the residents experienced an impact on their training calendar. Before the pandemic, 51 residents (53.3%) were involved in 2–3 surgeries per week, but during the pandemic, 66 (69.5%) were attending 0–1 case per week. Fifty-three residents (55.8%) agreed that academic sessions were affected despite the helpful effort of online teaching sessions. Thirty-four (35.8%) residents graded their anxiety during coronavirus disease-19 times as high. Ten PDs (58.8%) confirmed spending 3–5 hours per week on educational activities normally, whereas during the pandemic, 15 PDs (88.2%) reduced their educational hours to 0–2 hours per week. Conclusion: Our study showed that educational activities significantly decreased and shifted toward virtual teaching methods. Operative volume showed a substantial reduction for both junior and senior residents. Academic and clinical teaching was the main concern for PDs, and they faced challenges interviewing newly matched residents.