Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33017340›Full record

ArticleClinical spine surgery2021

Assessing the Early Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Spine Surgery Fellowship Education.

Peter R Swiatek, Joseph A Weiner, Bennet A Butler, Michael H McCarthy, Philip K Louie, Jean-Paul Wolinsky, Wellington K Hsu, Alpesh A Patel

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical spine surgery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Peter R SwiatekDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
Joseph A WeinerDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
Bennet A ButlerDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
Michael H McCarthyDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY.
Philip K LouieDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY.
Jean-Paul WolinskyDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
Wellington K HsuDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
Alpesh A PatelDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
Northwestern University · USHospital for Special Surgery · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

STUDY

designThis was a cross-sectional study.

objectiveThe objective of this study is to report the impact of COVID-19 on spine surgery fellow education and readiness for practice. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: COVID-19 has emerged as one of the most devastating global health crises of our time. To minimize transmission risk and to ensure availability of health resources, many hospitals have cancelled elective surgeries. There may be unintended consequences of this decision on the education and preparedness of current surgical trainees. MATERIALS AND

methodsA multidimensional survey was created and distributed to all current AO Spine fellows and fellowship directors across the United States and Canada.

resultsForty-five spine surgery fellows and 25 fellowship directors completed the survey. 62.2% of fellows reported >50% decrease in overall case volume since cancellation of elective surgeries. Mean hours worked per week decreased by 56.2%. Fellows reported completing a mean of 188.4±64.8 cases before the COVID-19 crisis and 84.1% expect at least an 11%-25% reduction in case volume compared with previous spine fellows. In all, 95.5% of fellows did not expect COVID-19 to impact their ability to complete fellowship. Only 2 directors were concerned about their fellows successfully completing fellowship; however, 32% of directors reported hearing concerns regarding preparedness from their fellows and 25% of fellows were concerned about job opportunities.

conclusionsCOVID-19 has universally impacted work hours and case volume for spine surgery fellows set to complete fellowship in the middle of 2020. Nevertheless, spine surgery fellows generally feel ready to enter practice and are supported by the confidence of their fellowship directors. The survey highlights a number of opportunities for improvement and innovation in the future training of spine surgeons. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III.

Indexed as

Clinical CompetenceFellowships and ScholarshipsPandemicsCanadaCOVID-19Cross-Sectional StudiesElective Surgical ProceduresEmploymentHealth SurveysHumansOrthopedicsPersonnel Staffing and SchedulingSARS-CoV-2United States

Identifiers

PMID33017340
PMCPMC8140639
OpenAlexW3090207194

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.