The Effects of COVID-19 on General Surgery Residency Programs in the United States

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted multiple aspects of surgical education. This survey delineates steps taken by general surgery residency programs to meet changing patient-care needs while continuing to provide adequate education.

A survey was administered to program directors and coordinators of all United States general surgery residency programs to assess the early effects of the pandemic on residents from March 1 through May 31, 2020.

Of 303 programs contacted, 132 (43.6%) completed the survey. Residents were asked to work in areas outside of their specialty at 27.3% of programs. Residency curriculum was changed in 35.6% of programs, and 76.5% of programs changed their academic conferences. Resident schedules were altered at a majority of programs to limit resident-patient exposure, increase ICU coverage, or improve resident utilization. Surgical caseloads decreased at 93.8% of programs; 31.8% of those programs reported concerns regarding residents' achieving the minimum case numbers required to graduate.

These results provided insight into the restructuring of general surgery residency programs during a pandemic and may be used to establish future pandemic response plans.