The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh recently reached out trainee membership to conduct a survey in order to gauge how they have been impacted by covid-19. The findings were stark.
- 67% of those surveyed said their mental health has suffered as a result of working during the pandemic.
- As the majority of elective surgery has been paused for large periods of the last year, many trainee surgeons have missed out on valuable learning experiences.
- Nine in ten trainees feel their craft skills as a surgeon have suffered as a result of the pandemic, and over half said they do not feel prepared to embark on the next stage of their career or training because of the disruption.
“ There is a huge backlog of patients whose elective operations were cancelled as a result of the pandemic, and trainees will play a vital role in helping to address this.
It is of the utmost importance that trainee surgeons are given the essential training and experience they need in the coming months, or we risk facing not just a serious skills shortage, but a longer term issue with a delay in surgical trainees completing training and entering the consultant workforce. Trainees are truly the lifeblood of our profession. They are our future. We must ensure their development is not disadvantaged in the long-term as a result of the pandemic.”
