Surgical Residents' Perspective on Online Education during COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is an exceptional situation which has rigorously affected surgical education and training worldwide. This current situation has carved innovative ways like online teaching to counter the challenges of the pandemic faced by a surgical resident. However, online teaching is not complimentary to bedside teaching which is a traditional practice. Therefore, we designed this study to assess the residents' perceptive towards online learning as a mode of education which is extensively implemented during the COVID-19 pandemicat our centre. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey. An online Google survey was circulated among junior residents in the department of General Surgery. This survey included residents' demographic profile, effect on working hours, their perception with online teaching, and effect on their surgical training during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: A total of 95 junior residents participated in this study. Surgical training and teaching was rigorously affected according to most of them and they also believe they have lost crucial training time in their tenure as a surgical resident. A majority found the communication with the faculty during online teaching adequate; however, the main drawback of online classes was the lack of clinical exposure and practical experience. Only 4.2% preferred 100% online teaching in future. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has affected surgical training much more as compared to other medical fields. However, we believe online education is still a potential instrument during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online learning platforms can be used in future as a supplement to time-honoured classroom teaching and didactic lectures.