This is a cross-sectional survey which will be distributed online between surgeons. The
survey was proposed by a consensus of consultants of surgery and revised by an improvement
consultant. It consists of a semi-structured questionnaire that is provided in English
language. A subsequent translation in different Language will provided based on geographical
distribution. The survey will be conducted online through an online survey development
cloud-based software (SurveyMonkey®; San Mateo, CA, USA). Participants will be aware of the
nature of the survey and informed that they will be listed as co-authors. Collected data will
be confidential and anonymous.

The first sector of the questionnaire includes trainee demographics and baseline
characteristics. Then the questionnaire aims to compare the trainee experience before and
after the pandemic with focus on research activities, clinical, and surgical practice.

Statistical analyses will be performed using SPSS v. 20. Data distribution will be tested for
normality using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the Shapiro-Wilk test. Categorical variables
will be expressed as group percentages and will be compared for independent samples using the
Chi-square test. Continuous data of the survey will be presented as medians with ranges or
means and standard deviations. A comparison of continuous data will be compared for
independent samples using the T-test or Mann-Whitney test according to the data distribution.
Spearman correlation coefficient will be used for further assessment of the strength of the
association between variables. The statistical significance level will be set at <0.05.