The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Ophthalmology Residency Education

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the theoretical, practical, and academic effects of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on ophthalmology residents. Methods: The web-based survey consisting of 28 questions was sent through Email to 37 educators who provides resident training. We divided the pandemic period into three, according to the severity of the pandemic and the measures, compared with pre-pandemic period (PreP), separately. Between March 2020 and June 2020 was named as P1, June 2020– October 2020 was named as P2, and October 2020–March 2021 was named as P3. Results: Responses received from 35 centers (17 university hospitals, 18 training and research state hospitals). There were totally 458 residents in the hospitals. Two hundred and forty-six of them (53.71%) worked on COVID-19 duties, with an average working time of 69.57 days. There were significant decreases in the number of patients examined by resident doctors and theoretical training time in the P1, P2, and P3 periods compared to PreP (p