The Impact of COVID-19 on Surgical Training and Education.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted conventional medical education for surgical trainees with respect to clinical training, didactics, and research. While the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical trainees were variable, some common themes are identifiable. As hordes of COVID-19 patients entered hospitals, many surgical trainees stepped away from their curricula and were redeployed to other hospital units to care for COVID-19 patients. Moreover, the need for social distancing limited traditional educational activities. Regarding clinical training, some trainees demonstrated reduced case logs and decreased surgical confidence. For residents, fellows, and medical students alike, most didactic education transitioned to virtual platforms, leading to an increase in remote educational resources and an increased emphasis on surgical simulation. Resident research productivity initially declined, although the onset of virtual conferences provided new opportunities for trainees to present their work. Finally, the pandemic was associated with increased anxiety, depression, and substance use for some trainees. Ultimately, we are still growing our understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has redefined surgical training and how to best implement the lessons we have learned.

Delaying surgery for clinical T1b-T2bN0M0 renal cell carcinoma: Oncologic implications in the COVID-19 era and beyond.

PURPOSE: During COVID-19, many operating rooms were reserved exclusively for emergent cases. As a result, many elective surgeries for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were deferred, with an unknown impact on outcomes. Since surveillance is commonplace for small renal masses, we focused on larger, organ-confined RCCs. Our primary endpoint was pT3a upstaging and our secondary endpoint was overall survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively abstracted cT1b-T2bN0M0 RCC patients from the National Cancer Database, stratifying them by clinical stage and time from diagnosis to surgery. We selected only those patients who underwent surgery. Patients were grouped by having surgery within 1 month, 1-3 months, or >3 months after diagnosis. Logistic regression models measured pT3a upstaging risk. Kaplan Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models assessed overall survival. RESULTS: A total of 29,746 patients underwent partial or radical nephrectomy. Delaying surgery >3 months after diagnosis did not confer pT3a upstaging risk among cT1b (OR = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.77-1.05, P = 0.170), cT2a (OR = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.69-1.19, P = 0.454), or cT2b (OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.62-1.51, P = 0.873). In all clinical stage strata, nonclear cell RCCs were significantly less likely to be upstaged (P <0.001). A sensitivity analysis, performed for delays of <1, 1-3, 3-6, and >6 months, also showed no increase in upstaging risk. CONCLUSION: Delaying surgery up to, and even beyond, 3 months does not significantly increase risk of tumor progression in clinically localized RCC. However, if deciding to delay surgery due to COVID-19, tumor histology, growth kinetics, patient comorbidities, and hospital capacity/resources, should be considered.

Impact of CoVID-19 on resident and fellow education: Current guidance and future opportunities for urologic oncology training programs.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 has impacted all aspects of urologic training. Didactics have shifted to a virtual platform and new approaches to surgical training have been undertaken. There has been a shift in research away from the laboratory space, with an increased focus on clinical outcomes and multi-institutional collaborations. Finally, there have been impacts on home life, questions about time away from work, case logs and case minimums, as well as how to manage resident and fellow reassignment. Herein, we review the current state of urologic education in the United States, focusing specifically on urologic oncology and highlight opportunities for the future.

Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call for a National Video-Based Curriculum for Urology Residents.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created many unique challenges in urology resident training. Urologists are operating at a fraction of normal volume to conserve personal protective equipment and prevent viral spread. Many residency programs have organized rotating skeleton crews to perform clinical duties while a portion of residents work from home. In some regions, urology residents have been deployed to emergency rooms, intensive care units, and medical floors to care for COVID-19 patients. With these interruptions in urologic education, many questions remain about how residents will proceed with their clinical and didactic training. During these unprecedented times, many residencies have transitioned their didactic sessions to video-based platforms, allowing educators to reach larger numbers of learners. This perspective addresses how innovative virtual education programs created during the pandemic can be developed into a national video-based curriculum for urology residents, incorporating both didactics and surgical skill training.

Urologic oncology surgery during COVID-19: a rapid review of current triage guidance documents.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic placed urologic surgeons, and especially urologic oncologists, in an unprecedented situation. Providers and healthcare systems were forced to rapidly create triage schemas in order to preserve resources and reduce potential viral transmission while continuing to provide care for patients. We reviewed United States and international triage proposals from professional societies, peer-reviewed publications, and publicly available institutional guidelines to identify common themes and critical differences. To date, there are varying levels of agreement on the optimal triaging of urologic oncology cases. As the need to preserve resources and prevent viral transmission grows, prioritizing only high priority surgical cases is paramount. A similar approach to prioritization will also be needed as nonemergent cases are allowed to proceed in the coming weeks. While these decisions will often be made on a case-by-case basis, more nuanced surgeon-driven consensus guidelines are needed for the near future.