Fellowship training: a collateral damage of Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the delivery of healthcare to people with chronic diseases such as movement disorders. Movement disorders specialists were compelled to adapt to this unprecedented situation. The objective of this study is to assess the impact in terms of reduction in the number of in-office consultations of a high-specialty fellowship program as a result of the pandemic, and the overall satisfaction with the fellowship. Methods. The out-patient records of the Movement Disorders clinics from March 1^st, 2020 to February 28^th, 2021 were collected. Data from this period was compared with the previous eight years. A satisfaction survey along with a visual analog scale was applied to both the patients and the specialty fellows. Results. During the study period a total of 1,742 consultations were given which represent a 60% drop in comparison to the previous year. Moreover, 38% of those consultations were carried out by telemedicine. Both fellows’ self-reported satisfaction and patient satisfaction with teleconsultation was high (90% and 96%, respectively. Conclusions. Despite the decrease of in-office visits, the fellows reported an acceptable satisfaction regarding the learning objectives of the program and patient satisfaction was not compromised.