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Minerva Urologica e Nefrologica 2020 August;72(4):505-9

DOI: 10.23736/S0393-2249.20.03868-0

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on urology residency training in Italy

Daniele AMPARORE ¹ ✉, Francesco CLAPS ², Giovanni E. CACCIAMANI ³, Francesco ESPERTO ^{4, 5}, Cristian FIORI ¹, Giovanni LIGUORI ², Sergio SERNI ^{6, 7}, Carlo TROMBETTA ², Marco CARINI ^{7, 8}, Francesco PORPIGLIA ¹, Enrico CHECCUCCI ^{1, 4}, Riccardo CAMPI ^{4, 6, 7, 8, 9}

¹ Division of Urology, Department of Oncology, School of Medicine, San Luigi Hospital, University of Turin, Orbassano, Turin, Italy; ² Urology Clinic, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy; ³ USC Institute of Urology and Catherine and Joseph Aresty, Department of Urology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; ⁴ European Society of Residents in Urology (ESRU), Arnhem, the Netherlands; ⁵ Department of Urology, Campus Biomedico University, Rome, Italy; ⁶ Department of Urological Robotic Surgery and Renal Transplantation, Careggi Hospital, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; ⁷ Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; ⁸ Department of Urology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; ⁹ Unit of Oncologic Minimally-Invasive Urology and Andrology, Careggi University Hospital, San Luca Nuovo, Florence, Italy

In the global emergency scenario caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the Urology residents’ training might be critically affected. To provide insights on this issue, a 25-item online Survey was sent to all Italian residents one month after the first case of COVID-19 in Italy, to evaluate their routine involvement in “clinical” (on-call duty, outpatient visits, diagnostic procedures) and “surgical” (endoscopic, open and minimally invasive surgery) training activities before and during the COVID-19 period. Overall, 351 of 577 (60.8%) residents completed the Survey. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of residents routinely involved in “clinical” and “surgical” activities ranged from 79.8% to 87.2% and from 49.3% to 73.5%, respectively. In the COVID-19 period, the proportion of residents experiencing a severe reduction (>40%) or complete suppression (>80%) of training exposure ranged between 41.1% and 81.2% for “clinical” activities while between 44.2% and 62.1% for “surgical” activities. This reduction was even more pronounced for residents attending the final year of training. Our study is the first to provide real-life data on how Urology residency training can be impaired during an emergency period. To address this challenge, strategies aiming to increase the use of telemedicine, “smart learning” programs and tele-mentoring of surgical procedures, are warranted.

KEY WORDS: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Medical education; Surveys and questionnaires; Urology