Dataset Information

The Impact of COVID-19 on Orthopedic Surgery Fellowship Training: A Survey of Fellowship Program Directors.

ABSTRACT: Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide-reaching impact. Graduate medical education of orthopedic surgeons was not spared from the jarring changes. Purpose: We sought to survey fellowship program directors in the field of orthopedic surgery about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the education of the 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 fellowship classes and the future of their programs. Methods: In October 2020, an 18-item survey was distributed by an official of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) to the specialty societies that govern fellowship training. Each specialty society then distributed the survey to its respective program directors. A reminder email was sent during the enrollment period. Each respondent was able to complete the survey once. Survey questions were grouped into 3 sections: general information about the fellowship training programs, the impact of COVID-19 on the 2019 to 2020 fellowship class, and the future impact of COVID-19 on the fellowship training programs. Results: Of the 564 accredited orthopedic surgery fellowship programs in the United States, 190 directors responded. Of these, 73.59% reported COVID-19 had a negative impact on the 2019 to 2020 fellowship class. A normal distribution of responses was found regarding didactic and academic learning, research, and mentorship opportunities. A majority of respondents said they believe that there will be no negative impact on patient care the fellows provide in the years to come. Conclusion: Orthopedic surgery fellowship program directors acknowledged that while there were negative effects to training in the pandemic, they did not think these would negatively affect patient care provided by 2019 to 2020 fellows in the short and medium term. They also reported positive outcomes from the experience of the pandemic, including new ways to educate fellows.

SUBMITTER: Heaps BM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8753546 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundOrthopedic fellowship positions continue to be increasingly competitive, with most orthopedic residency graduates pursuing fellowship after completion of residency. Shoulder and elbow fellowship training represents an increasingly competitive and relatively smaller cohort of applicants than other subspecialties; there are only 29 programs with a total of 40 offered positions. The purpose of this survey is to identify and rank factors considered most important by shoulder and elbow fellowship directors when identifying potential fellowship candidates.MethodsA web-based survey was emailed to all 29 orthopedic shoulder and elbow fellowship directors recognized by American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons. Demographic information was collected regarding program size, total number of applicants interviewed, and total number of applicants subsequently ranked. The survey also included a list of twelve applicant characteristics which each program director was asked to rank in a sequential order (most important to least). The median score of each factor was calculated, and a weighted score was applied to the top five (of twelve) categories selected by each program. Five points were given to the top-ranked factor. Four points were given to factors ranked 2nd, three points to factors ranked 3rd, two points to factors ranked 4th, and one point to factors ranked 5th. The weighted scores were then used to determine the most highly desired applicant characteristics.ResultsTwenty-two of 29 (76%) orthopedic shoulder and elbow fellowship programs responded to the survey. Fourteen of 22 (64%) programs interview 20 or fewer applicants each year. No programs ranked more than 25 applicants. Twelve of 22 (55%) of program directors rated the interview as the most important factor, whereas 6 of 22 (27%) selected letters of recommendation. Based on the weighted score calculation, interviews, letters of recommendation, and personal connections to the applicant/letter writers comprised the top three categories, respectively, and captured 193 of 330 (58%) of the total available points in the weighted score. Strength of shoulder/elbow experience in residency, ties to the geographical area, and comments made regarding technical competence scored among the lowest factors.ConclusionOrthopedic shoulder and elbow fellowship directors consistently ranked interviews, letters of recommendation, and personal connection to applicant/letter writer higher than other factors when ranking applicants. This information provides both program directors as well as applicants with important information to consider when navigating the shoulder and elbow fellowship application process.

Project description:Background: Fellowship directors are assumed to be distinguished in orthopedics, but the traits and training that have enabled them to achieve their leadership positions have not been assessed. Purpose: We sought to identify common demographics, research output, and educational trends of fellowship directors in orthopedics, with an emphasis on racial, ethnic, and gender diversity. Methods: We conducted a literature review to identify published studies on fellowship directors in orthopedic surgery and found 4 cross-sectional studies of fellowship directors in spine, arthroplasty, pediatrics, and sports medicine subspecialties. Another 4 accredited orthopedic subspecialties and their fellowship directors were identified using the American College of Graduate Medical Education Public Accreditation Data System for 2020-2021 and national fellowship directories. Data endpoints included race/ethnicity, age, sex, residency and fellowship training institutions, year of fellowship completion, year of hire at current institution, year of fellowship directors appointment, and h-index. The demographics and educational backgrounds for listed fellowship directors were collected from curricula vitae (CVs). Results: Of the 537 fellowship directors identified among 8 orthopedic subspecialties, the average age was 52.9 ± 2.2 years, 5.6% (N = 30) were women, 79.1% (N = 406) were white, 12.5% (N = 64) were Asian American, 3.7% (N = 19) were African American, 2.9% (N = 15) were Middle Eastern, and 1.7% (N = 9) were Hispanic/Latino. Oncology 20% (N = 4) had the highest percentage of female fellowship directors; 37.6% (N = 202) of fellowship directors were at the same institution they trained at for residency or fellowship. Their average h-index was 18.6 ± 3.7. Conclusion: This study of fellowship directors in orthopedics found that they have a high research output and a high level of institutional familiarity. We identified a need for greater diversity in these leadership positions in both gender and race/ethnicity.

Project description:BackgroundLockdown measures applied during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak caused a significant disturbance to hospital routine. We assessed trainees' and fellowship directors' perceptions regarding the impact of the pandemic on gastroenterology fellowship training.MethodsA web-based survey was anonymously disseminated to all Greek gastroenterology fellows and fellowship program directors. Participants completed electronically a questionnaire comprised of 5 domains that assessed participants' perception of: 1) overall impact on training; 2) impact on training in gastroenterology-specific fields (endoscopy, inflammatory bowel disease, hepatology); 3) impact on different aspects of endoscopy training; 4) impact on academic training; and 5) training perspectives for the post-pandemic era.ResultsA total of 77/128 fellows (60.1%) and 18/28 fellowship program directors (64.3%) responded. More fellows reported that the COVID-19 pandemic would have an adverse impact on fellowship training compared to their fellowship program directors (81.8% vs. 55.6%, P=0.038). This concern was mainly focused on endoscopy training (83.1% vs. 27.8%, P<0.001), with no difference regarding training in gastroenterology's other specific fields. The difference was consistent for technical skills (79.2% vs. 38.9%, P=0.001), and for the performance of basic diagnostic (70.1% vs. 22.2%, P<0.001) and emergency (48.1% vs. 11.1%, P=0.004) procedures. Fellows and fellowship program directors identified the unknown timeframe of measure implementation and the postponement of scheduled endoscopic procedures as the main factors that negatively affected training. Extension of the fellowship training program was deemed the optimal option by fellows for addressing the training decrement in the post-pandemic era, while fellowship program directors favored an increase in workload.ConclusionFellows and their fellowship program directors do not share the same concerns about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on training programs and they propose different measures to remedy its effects.

Dataset Information

The Impact of COVID-19 on Orthopedic Surgery Fellowship Training: A Survey of Fellowship Program Directors.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets