Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on Postgraduate Training: Comparison of Dedicated and Nondedicated Coronavirus Disease 2019 Centers
Tanvi Jha, Saloni Dagar, Preeti Diwaker
Keywords :
Coronavirus disease 2019, Medical education, Novel coronavirus, Pandemic, Postgraduate training
Citation Information :
Jha T, Dagar S, Diwaker P. Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on Postgraduate Training: Comparison of Dedicated and Nondedicated Coronavirus Disease 2019 Centers. J Postgrad Med Edu Res 2023; 57 (2):70-78.
Background: Postgraduate (PG) residents receive most of their training “on the job.” As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) became the singular focus, changes were made in healthcare delivery that had a wide-ranging impact on the education of PG residents. In this study, we aimed to evaluate and compare the perception of PG residents of dedicated and nondedicated COVID-19 care centers towards the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their own educational environment.
Methods: A 13-item, pretested questionnaire was used. A total of 267 PG residents from two dedicated and two nondedicated government COVID-19 centers voluntarily participated in the study. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) v23.
Results: Out of 267 residents, 96.6% felt that the pandemic had affected their training and this perception was significantly higher (p = 0.018) amongst those working in dedicated COVID-19 facilities. Decreased motivation, poorer attention span, fewer learning opportunities relevant to their branch, irregular online teaching, absence of practical training, increased workload, and inability to learn from and interact with their seniors and faculty are some of the other problems identified. Only 6% of residents believed that they were adequately trained for their professional career postresidency and about 66.7% of residents felt the need to repeat their residency as they felt undertrained.
Conclusion: In view of the protracted nature of the pandemic, there is an urgent need to address the concerns of PG residents and come up with innovative solutions to problems identified in their training so as to ensure a timely well-prepared batch of PG without lowering the standard of medical education.
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