• Brenna Briles, Alyssa Kahl, James Anaissie, Lindsay Brettmann, Ujval Pathak, Kristen A Staggers, Shreeya Popat, Anoop Agrawal, Stacey Rose, and Jennifer Taylor.
• Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
• Postgrad Med. 2024 Jan 1; 136 (1): 445144-51.

ObjectivesEvidence has shown significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on physicians. We hypothesized that these effects would impact surgical and non-surgical resident education differently, with non-surgical specialties being more heavily impacted by frontline work and surgical specialties losing elective cases.MethodsWe examined well-being and burnout among resident physicians in surgical and non-surgical specialties during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic using the Mayo Physician Well-Being Index (WBI).ResultsCompleted surveys were received from 110 residents, 55% of whom were in a surgical training program. 35% of respondents were identified as 'at risk' for burnout. Increased demands from work (adj. OR 3.79, 95% CI 1.50, 9.59, p = 0.005) was associated with an increased likelihood for being 'at risk' compared to those without increased demands. Odds of having increased stress level were higher amongst residents with fear/anxiety of the unknown (adj. OR 4.21, 95% CI 1.63, 10.90, p = 0.003) and more demands outside work (adj. OR 10.54, 95% CI 2.63, 42.16, p = 0.001) but lower amongst residents with more time for studying (OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.09, 0.64, p = 0.005). Risk for burnout was not significantly different between surgical and non-surgical specialties when adjusting for increased demands from work (adj. OR 1.43, 95% CI 0.60, 3.37, p = 0.0.418).ConclusionPerceived effects of the COVID-19 pandemic upon residents' educational experience was mixed: reduced clinical volume had a negative impact, while increased time for study was perceived favorably. These findings suggest potential strategies and targets to mitigate the stress and burnout of a future crisis, whether large or small, among surgical and non-surgical trainees.

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