Educational and personal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency medicine resident physicians: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on both the clinical practice and the psychological states of frontline physicians in the emergency department. Trainees, at the beginning of their careers and thus still developing their practice styles and identities as physicians, were uniquely affected.

Objective: In this qualitative study, we sought to explore how the pandemic environment shaped the experiences of emergency medicine resident physicians.

Methods: This was a qualitative study. We conducted in-depth interviews with emergency medicine faculty, resident physicians, and staff at a single emergency department based at an urban academic institution in the northeastern United States. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed, and transcripts were then analyzed in an iterative process by our coding team for recurring themes related to the resident experience.

Results: We reached data saturation with 27 individuals. Of those who were interviewed, 10 were resident physicians [6 senior residents (PGY-3 or PGY-4) and 4 junior residents (PGY-1 or PGY-2)]. Three major recurring themes regarding resident physician experience emerged during our analysis of the interviews: (1) novel educational experiences dampened by negative structural forces from the pandemic, (2) fracturing of social interactions and mitigation through ad-hoc support systems and community of practice, and (3) development of negative emotions and psychological trauma including fear, resentment, and moral injury causing lasting harm.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that emergency medicine resident physicians training during the COVID-19 pandemic faced unique experiences concerning their education, social support systems, and emotional states. While the educational and social experiences were described as having both negative and positive impacts, the emotional experiences were largely negative. Residency program leadership may use these insights to improve resident preparation, wellness, and resilience in the face of future adverse events.

Keywords: COVID pandemic; Emotiional experiences; Psychological stress; Resident physician.