ABSTRACT
Introduction: A decrease in operative volume of general surgery chiefs graduating the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) was previously noted using self-reported Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) case logs. The purpose of this study is to examine if this trend was captured in self-reported case logs and if those trends were similarly captured in an automated multi-institution artificial intelligence-based case log. Method(s): The ACGME National Data Report of general surgery cases was queried for mean cases performed as surgeon chief for the pre-pandemic (2018-2019) and pandemic (2019-2020 and 2020- 2021) period. A 24-institute HIPAA-compliant, web-based, surgical education management platform using an embedded artificial intelligence algorithm to generate case logs from electronic operative schedules was also queried. Percent change was calculated and statistical significance was calculated with unpaired T-Test. Result(s): Fifty-three ACGME categories were reviewed. A significant (p<0.05) decrease occurred in 19 categories (35.8%) the first pandemic year compared with pre-pandemic. The second pandemic year (2020-2021) 10 categories (18.8%) had a significant increase (p<0.05). The automated case log system did not see the same trend with only 2.7% of categories (9/324) with a significant decrease the first pandemic year. No subsequent significant increases occurred the second pandemic year. Conclusion(s): ACGME case logs reveal a recovery of operative volume for general surgery chiefs during the second year of the pandemic. However, the 24-institution, automatically logged system did not see the same trend. Regional variation or improved accuracy of automated case logs may explain the discrepancy.