Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced clinical volume with a negative impact on trainee education.

Methods

Survey study of Otolaryngology trainees in North America, during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020.

Results

Of 216 respondents who accessed the survey, 175 (83%) completed the survey. Respondents reported a universal decrease in clinical activities (98.3%). Among participants who felt their program utilized technology well, there were significantly decreased concerns to receiving adequate educational knowledge (29.6% vs 65.2%, P = .003). However, 68% of trainees still expressed concern in ability to receive adequate surgical training. In addition, 54.7% of senior trainees felt that the pandemic had a negative impact on their ability to secure a job or fellowship after training.

Conclusions

Trainees universally felt a negative impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Use of technology was able to alleviate some concerns in gaining adequate educational knowledge, but decreased surgical training remained the most prevalent concern.

Background

COVID-19 pandemic has strained human and material resources around the world. Practices in surgical oncology had to change in response to these resource limitations, triaging based on acuity, expected oncologic outcomes, availability of supportive resources, and safety of health care personnel.

Methods

The MD Anderson Head and Neck Surgery Treatment Guidelines Consortium devised the following to provide guidance on triaging head and neck cancer (HNC) surgeries based on multidisciplinary consensus. HNC subsites considered included aerodigestive tract mucosa, sinonasal, salivary, endocrine, cutaneous, and ocular.

Recommendations

Each subsite is presented separately with disease-specific recommendations. Options for alternative treatment modalities are provided if surgical treatment needs to be deferred.

Conclusion

These guidelines are intended to help clinicians caring for patients with HNC appropriately allocate resources during a health care crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to advocate for individual consideration of cases in a multidisciplinary fashion based on individual patient circumstances and resource availability.