Division Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, Faculty Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
J Genet Couns. 2021 Oct;30(5):1298-1309. doi: 10.1002/jgc4.1520. Epub 2021 Sep 28.
Soon after the first COVID-19 case was reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, South Africa announced a national lockdown in an attempt to curb the spread of the disease. Under national lockdown, businesses were closed, learning institutions moved to emergency remote teaching (ERT), and hospitals reduced their patient loads. De-escalation of clinical services at Groote Schuur and Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospitals affected Genetic Counseling Services and resulted in a decrease in in-person and an increase in telecounseling sessions. ERT, offered by the University of Cape Town, affected the teaching of Genetic Counseling students, and other methods of training had to be found to compensate for the lack of patient contact. In this paper, we present our Genetic Counseling team's experiences of learning and clinical services during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. The team met online as a group in November 2020 to discuss their experiences. The discussion was recorded and transcribed, and topics that arose during the discussion were identified. The pandemic and the accompanying lock down, which forced trainees to move back home, resulted in great uncertainty. The trainees found ERT on an online platform, including simulated cases, very helpful, but they lost the confidence to work with real patients. Telecounseling became the predominant form of service delivery and was experienced as positive when video sessions were possible. The telephone service for advanced maternal age counseling was problematic due to unreliable networks. The biggest loss for the GCs was the feeling of disconnection from peers, supervisors, and patients. The experiences highlighted positive and negative aspects as well as specific challenges faced in South Africa. Lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic will be used in future to improve training of GCs and to enhance service delivery.
在中国武汉报告首例 COVID-19 病例后不久，南非于 2019 年 12 月宣布全国封锁，试图遏制疾病的传播。在全国封锁期间，企业关闭，学习机构转向紧急远程教学（ERT），医院减少了患者数量。格罗特舒尔医院和红十字会纪念儿童医院的临床服务降级影响了遗传咨询服务，导致面对面咨询减少，远程咨询增加。开普敦大学提供的 ERT 影响了遗传咨询学生的教学，因此必须寻找其他培训方法来弥补缺乏患者接触的问题。在本文中，我们介绍了南非 COVID-19 大流行期间我们的遗传咨询团队的学习和临床服务经验。该团队于 2020 年 11 月在线集体开会讨论他们的经验。讨论内容被记录和转录，并确定了讨论中出现的主题。大流行和随之而来的封锁迫使学员搬回家，这导致了巨大的不确定性。学员们在在线平台上找到了 ERT，包括模拟案例，他们觉得非常有帮助，但他们失去了与真实患者合作的信心。远程咨询成为主要的服务提供形式，当视频会议可行时，被体验为积极的。高级产妇年龄咨询的电话服务因网络不可靠而存在问题。GC 面临的最大损失是与同行、主管和患者失去联系的感觉。这些经验突出了积极和消极的方面以及南非面临的具体挑战。从 COVID-19 大流行中吸取的教训将用于改进遗传咨询师的培训和增强服务提供。
