{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.03256364712847839, 'fraction_numerical': 0.028419182948490232, 'mean_word_length': 5.057347670250896, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 1, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
EFFECT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON OPHTHALMOLOGY RESIDENTS IN NORTH INDIA

Purpose: Ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has globally affected training, skills and mental health of ophthalmology residents. This prospective,
population based observational study was done to study the effect of COVID-19 on ophthalmology resident's education and mental health.
Methods and Materials: 37-questions web-based survey was circulated amongst ophthalmology residents studying in North India between 1st to
30th April 2021. Questions comprised of their demographic prole, concerns regarding their training and skills and effect of COVID -19 on their
mental health. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 27.0 for MAC (SPSS Inc.) Chi-square test was used to determine the level of
signicance. Ap value of < 0.05 was considered statistically signicant. Results: 52.1% of residents believed that COVID-19 had a severe impact
on Post Graduate teaching program. 77.3% believed that appropriate measures were not taken to preserve effectiveness of their training. 94.7% of
the residents opined that there was decrease in surgical exposure. 86.08% of residents thought there would be a dip in opportunities for international
fellowships after nishing their course. 67.6% residents reported their deployment in COVID care wards out of which 73.9% residents had fear of
getting infected with COVID-19. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has signicantly affected the personal and professional life of the
ophthalmology residents. Their mental stress on variable issues needs to be addressed and solved on priority basis so that a healthier workforce is
formed to ght against a pandemic like situation in future.