Anaesthesiology registrar's experience of their training at the University of the Witwatersrand: a qualitative study

Abstract

Postgraduate education for anaesthesiologists is a complex multifaceted process that balances statutory education requirements, service delivery and the personal circumstances of the registrar. The aim of this study was to describe how anaesthesiology registrars in the Department of Anaesthesiology at Wits experience their training. The experiences of anaesthesiology registrars at a South African University were explored in this descriptive, exploratory and qualitative study through a series of naïve sketches. A naïve sketch was selected as an instrument to elicit the participants' narratives and purposive sampling was employed to select the 41 registrars; in various stages of their training; from whom data were collected. Thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke's six phases was used to analyse the data. Trustworthiness was established using Lincoln and Guba's framework. The participants had a roller coaster experience of learning, where good and bad experiences played a role in becoming a specialist. The struggle for academic achievement was characterised by the lack of protected teaching time and the high clinical workload. In addition, the participants found it challenging balancing their academic and personal lives. Despite the challenges, the registrar journey played a key role in shaping them into specialists. Each of the participants' experienced a challenging but fulfilling journey that equipped them with the skills and confidence to become accomplished specialists. This study demonstrated that there are a number of stressors that affected the participants' journeys. Training could therefore be tailored with this in mind and all aspects of the programme should aim to reduce these stressors as much as possible.