THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWN ON TRAINING ON OPHTHALMOLOGY TRAINEES IN EGYPT

Document Type : Original articles: include clinical trials, interventional research, Basic researches and clinically relevant laboratory investigations

Author

Ophthalmology dept., Faculty of Medicine, Sohag Univ., Sohag, Egypt

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-Co2) COVID-19
on training of ophthalmology trainees in Egypt and how they could overcome this effect.
Method: An
online based questionnaire was designed and distributed to a representative sample of ophthalmology trainees in Egypt; their answers were collected and analyzed.
Results: A total of 574
participants completed questionnaires (61.5%) were residents and (38.5%) were specialists. A
majority of the responders (82.1%) participated in COVID-19 control programs and (99.5%) got
benefits from excessive infection control programs. Most of the responders experienced a
negative effect of COVID-19 lockdown on their training on both surgical (57.3%) and academic
(55.6%) levels, but surgical skills were more affected. (86.6%) of the participants thought this
effect could be overcome. The most popular choices to overcome this negative effect were
online courses (97.7%) and webinars (84.3%).


Keywords