The Impact of COVID-19 on Early Career Members (ecms): an ERS ECM Survey

Rationale: COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disorganised healthcare. Respiratory ECMs were at the frontline of the pandemic. The ERS ECM committee assessed the impact of the pandemic on the work and training of ECMs, and compared the differences between the first wave (FW) and subsequent waves (SWs). Methods: An online survey was disseminated via e-mail and social networks to ERS members, with a first round in May 2020, and a second round in October 2021. ECMs (i.e., aged ≤40 years) were asked to participate. The second round incorporated questions about SWs. Results: Eight hundred and forty-four ECMs responded (45% men), of all ages between 18 and 40 years, from 89 countries. They were physicians (48%), registrars/medical students (28%), allied health professionals (8%), full-time researchers (11%), and medical students doing research (5%). During the FW, 64% had to change their working place, opposed to 17% during SWs. More than 50% considered that training/continuous education was altered during all the waves, but more online training was delivered during SWs. Conference attendance was cancelled for 70% during the FW, whereas it was mostly maintained in an online format during SWs. During all the waves, the preferred sources of information were webinars, peer-reviewed journals, and the ERS website. During the FW, 21% of respondents received no mentorship, and 46% received no psychological support. Fifteen percent had to take sick leave for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and 3% for burnout. Moreover, 54% of research projects were postponed. Conclusion: The pandemic had important consequences on the training and wellbeing of ECMs, with many of them being mobilised for the management of COVID-19 patients.