Examining the one-year impact of COVID-19 on urology resident surgical experience: An analysis of national surgical case logs
Travis LeBlanc1, Keith F. Rourke1.
1Department of Urology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Introduction: The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in elective surgical closures beginning in March 2020. In the immediate six months after COVID-19 began, there was a significant reduction in national resident operative experience. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on urology resident surgical experience the year before and after COVID-19 using a national surgical case log registry.
Methods: Canadian national urology resident case log data (T-Res) was analyzed for the two-year time period from March 15, 2019, to March 14, 2021, with respect to the 14 most commonly performed urological procedures. The 12-month time period prior to COVID-19 was compared to the 12-month time period after COVID-19. Data was analyzed from 11 residency programs with regular active users generating case logs over this time period. Total and specific case volumes per program and per resident user of the time period were analyzed. A paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for comparison of mean cases pre- and post-COVID-19.
Results: A total of 26 715 procedures were recorded over the 24-month period among 150 unique resident users. In the 12 months prior to COVID-19, 11 906 procedures were logged, while 14 809 procedures were logged in the 12 months after. Mean case volume by procedure type was unchanged, other than partial nephrectomy, which showed a small increase in the post-COVID window (Figure 1). Looking at total cases per program, seven programs showed an increase post-COVID (Figure 2). When the data was adjusted per resident, there were no differences in specific cases (Figure 3). When looking at case volumes per resident, three programs show a decreased case volume since COVID and three programs show an increase (Figure 4).
Conclusions: Based on this national case log sample, resident operative experience has rebounded one year after COVID-19. However, 27.3% of programs still report significantly reduced case volumes per resident after COVID-19, and this may warrant further examination to ensure focal deficiencies in training don’t arise.
