A Descriptive National Survey of Post-COVID Experiences of Nigerian Surgical Trainees.

Background: Medical training was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an unprecedented reduction in elective, emergency surgical, and clinical procedures. This led to great interest in the use of virtual lectures, virtual conferences, webinars, and other technology-based resources such as telehealth consultations. This trend has introduced changes that have transformed surgical training/fellowship. The study aims to explore the transformation in clinical practice and residency training induced by the COVID-19 pandemic in a low- and middle-income country such as Nigeria, and ways of aligning with global trends. Methodology: This was a quantitative questionnaire-based cross-sectional study. The survey link was distributed through professional WhatsApp® platforms of the residency associations of diverse surgery training institutions in Nigeria, and via email. Results: There were 157 respondents. Urology (26.1%) and orthopaedic surgery (22.3%) had the highest numbers of respondents. The major cases done after the lockdown decreased COMPARED to the period before the lockdown. The residents using the audio form of telemedicine increased from 48% in the pre-COVID period to 61% in the post-COVID period. The video form increased from 4.5% to 21%, and those using internet Apps for clinical consultation increased from 13.4 % to 31.8%. McNemar's test was significant for the differences in responses before and after COVID for audio telemedicine (p = 0.011), video (p = 0.000), and internet App telemedicine (p = 0.000). In the pre-COVID period, lectures, tutorials, and seminars were frequently delivered in-person (96.2%), while in the post-COVID period, they were predominantly done virtually (74.5%). Pearson's chi-square test showed no significant associations between the stage of training and the responses (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The pandemic affected surgical training for fellowships, hastening the adoption of virtual platforms, simulation technology, remote teaching, and mentorship into many fellowships' curricula, giving rise to a flexible hybrid model of surgical fellowship.