The Spanish medical specialist training perception of the COVID-19 pandemic impact in their emotional health and training, a cross-sectional observational study

Abstract

Specialist training in Spain is conceptualized as a dual system regulated as both a public employment and a graduate training program. Due to the global pandemic created by COVID-19 which hit Spain in March 2020, the Spanish specialist training system underwent temporary but major restructuring, giving priority to labor aspects within the system. The main goal of the study was to assess how resident physicians in Spain perceive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their training and on their emotional wellbeing. A descriptive observational cross-sectional study was carried out where data was gathered through an anonymous survey distributed to all resident physicians in Spain during a period of two weeks in November 2020. The results were analyzed by the statistical package SPSS v.25. A total of 2889 responses were collected and analyzed. More than 80% of the residents stated that training had worsened and 47% indicated that working in COVID-19 related duties had not contributed to their core or specialized curriculum. The increase in 24h on-call shifts and in regular working hours, the lack of supervision and the suspension of elective surgeries were the variables associated with a major training impact and psychological distress. The COVID- 19 pandemic has severely affected residency programs, fundamentally in the acquisition of specialized competencies. This situation must be urgently addressed by health authorities at government and hospital levels in order to prevent important shortcomings in the training of future specialists.

Keywords

• Residents, COVID-19, pandemic, residency program, medical education, emotional impact.