What is the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Emergency Medicine Residency Training: An Observation Study

Abstract BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has engendered difficulties for health systems globally; however, the effect of the pandemic on emergency medicine (EM) residency training programs is unknown. The pandemic has engendered reduced volumes of emergency department (ED) patients, except for those with COVID-19 infections, and this may reduce the case exposure of EM residents. The primary objective of this study was to compare the clinical exposure of EM residents between the prepandemic and pandemic periods. MethodsThis was a retrospective study of EM resident physicians in Taiwan. We performed a medical record review and retrieved data regarding patients seen by EM residents in the ED between September 1, 2019, and April 30, 2020. The number and characteristics of patients seen by residents were recorded, and the training schedules, including clinical working hours, of EM residents were determined. We compared the data between the prepandemic and pandemic periods.ResultsA total of 51,337 patients were managed by 36 EM residents during the 8-month study period. The mean number of patients per hour (PPH) seen by EM residents decreased significantly during the pandemic period. The PPH seen by residents in the adult ED decreased in all three hospitals during the pandemic. The average number of patients managed by residents decreased by 50% and 70% in the trauma ED and pediatric ED during the pandemic, respectively. The severity of patient illness did not change significantly between the periods. ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic engendered a reduced ED volume and decreased EM residents’ clinical exposure. All portion of EM residency training were affected by the pandemic, with pediatric EM being the most affected. The patient volume reduction may persist and in turn reduce patients’ case exposure until the pandemic subsides. Adjustment of the training programs may be necessary and ancillary methods of learning should be used to ensure adequate EM residency training..

Medienart:	Preprint

Erscheinungsjahr:	2022
Erschienen:	2022

Enthalten in:	ResearchSquare.com - (2022) vom: 01. Nov. Zur Gesamtaufnahme - year:2022

Sprache:	Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:	Lo, Hsiang-Yun [VerfasserIn] Lin, Shen-Che [VerfasserIn] Chaou, Chung-Hsien [VerfasserIn] Chang, Yu-Che [VerfasserIn] Ng, Chip-Jin [VerfasserIn] Chen, Shou-Yen [VerfasserIn]

Links:	Volltext [lizenzpflichtig] Volltext [kostenfrei]

Themen:	570 Biology

doi:	10.21203/rs.3.rs-42333/v1

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PPN (Katalog-ID):	XRA034687211