The New Zealand medical journal
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Clinician-scientist training most commonly refers to the concomitant undertaking of dual (medical and PhD) degrees by a medical student. While such training is relatively well-established in the US, Canada and many countries in Europe including the UK, uptake in Australasia has been slower and less successful. This brief piece explores this aspect, with some focus on the history of the intercalated programmes in New Zealand.
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New Zealand's stated goal of eradicating COVID-19 included the enforcement of a national lockdown. During this time, a perceived decrease in hospital presentations nationwide was noted. This was also the experience of the Department of General Surgery, Bay of Plenty District Health Board (BOPDHB). We sought to quantify this reduction by analysing the frequency and severity of three common acute general surgical presentations; appendicitis, cholecystitis and diverticulitis. ⋯ The COVID-19 lockdown led to fewer presentations, but these were often delayed, with more complications and a longer length of stay. This could be partly explained by patient fear around exposure to the virus and reluctance to attend hospital. More research is needed to study the flow-on effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on surgical presentations.