Effects of Covid-19 Pandemic on The Surgical Training of Final Year Medical Students in South-Eastern Nigeria

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted surgical training and education of medical students in various institutions. The South-eastern Nigeria situation was evaluated with respect to surgical training, with a view to identify gaps and proffer solutions. OBJECTIVES: To determine the impact of covid-19 pandemic on surgical training of undergraduate medical students, their experiences and alternatives being implemented to continue their education. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Design: Cross-sectional survey amongst 181 final year medical students in South-eastern Nigeria was conducted. A structured questionnaire designed using the free software Google® Forms was utilized for the study. The questionnaire was electronically distributed randomly using online platforms. The data obtained was analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS®). Ethical approval was obtained from the appropriate ethics and research unit prior to commencement of the study. RESULTS: In all, 181 final year medical students completed and submitted the questionnaire. Majority of the respondents (55.8%) denoted that their exposure to surgical cases in general were markedly decreased; 61.9% and 56.9% of respondents reported a slight decrease in physical examination and clerkship opportunities respectively. 51.1% indicated that a hybrid of virtual and physical classes was used with cost of data subscription being a major challenge to active online participation according to 58.3% of the respondents. Departmental conferences and case discussions reduced according to 47.8% of respondents while 56.9% attested to a reduction in opportunities to acquire basic surgical skills since the pandemic. Majority of respondents said their personal study time remained the same and 56.9% said their overall undergraduate surgery training has been slightly worse than before the pandemic. There was no statistically significant relationship associating gender with clerkship opportunities, physical examination opportunities or exposure to surgery cases in the Covid-19 pandemic era using a p-value of <0.05 as significant (Chi-square 1.395, p-value 0.85); Chi-square-2.985, p-value- 0.40, Chi-square-3.325, p-value-0.51 respectively). CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the clinical and teaching components of undergraduate surgical training in South-Eastern Nigeria. It has, however, led to increased adoption of digital technology which should be further explored in the face of current realities. We recommend that there should be a flexible re-adjustment of the syllables and pattern of surgical training of medical students to accommodate unavoidable events that can disrupt the training such as the covid-19 pandemic in a bid to prevent future disruptions in training.