Challenges and Opportunities to Critical Care Training Programs during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic announcement, health-care systems across the world were hugely affected by the mitigation measures to contain the infection. The training programs in different specialties were compromised, and the educational process was interrupted. The training program leaders have worked effortlessly to balance the educational process’s continuation with their trainees’ safety in ways that adhere to the mitigation measures. This review briefly discusses the challenges and opportunities to critical care training programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main challenges were interruptions of the educational process, reduced supervision, burnout, and reduced support. On the contrary, many opportunities have emerged including exposure to a new clinical disease and disaster response, virtual education, self-directed reading and assessment, and comprehensive support.