Abstract

SINGARAM, Veena S.; NAIDOO, Kimesh  and  RAMRATHAN, Labby. Medical internship training during the COVID-19 pandemic - A case of 'sacrificial pawns' or not?. Afr. j. prim. health care fam. med. (Online) [online]. 2022, vol.14, n.1, pp.1-8. ISSN 2071-2936.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/phcfm.v14i1.3103.

BACKGROUND: Newly qualified medical practitioners in South Africa (SA) are part of the frontline health care workers who face Africa's most severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The experiences of interns during the pandemic reflect SA's preparedness to respond in a crisis and inform strategies that could be adopted to balance training and service in resource-challenged contextsAIM: To explore the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats posed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as reflected on by interns within the clinical training platforms in SASETTING: Public hospitals in KwaZulu-NatalMETHODS: An online questionnaire consisting of eight open-ended questions based on the SWOT framework related to personal and professional perspectives to clinical training during the COVID-19 pandemic was developed using SurveyMonkey. All data were collected remotely via social media platforms. Data were thematically analysedRESULTS: Forty-six interns reflected on personal and systemic challenges as the major threats and weaknesses in intern training during the COVID-19 pandemic. Extrapolating on strengths and opportunities, there were three overarching learnings interns reflected on. These related to being a medical professional, communities of practice and the development and enhancement of clinical and non-clinical competencies. Existing challenges in the environment exacerbated the threats posed by COVID-19 and innovative strategies related to improving support, feedback, broadening the intern curriculum and online trainingCONCLUSION: Although the clinical environment where interns learn and work is often stressful and overpowered by high service burdens, there are unique opportunities to enhance self-directed learning and graduate competencies, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

Keywords : medical interns; stress; burnout; well-being; training; workplace; competencies; self-regulated learning.

        · text in English     · English ( pdf )