MATERIALS AND METHODS: Post-COVID-19 clinic attendees, consisting of post-COVID-19 patients discharged from major hospitals in the state of Selangor during the third pandemic wave of COVID-19 in Malaysia, were enrolled in this retrospective study for 6 months. Physician-scored Modified Medical Research Council (mMRC), patient self-reported quality of life (EQ-VAS) score and follow-up CT scan were evaluated.

RESULTS: Our cohort comprised 131 patients, with a median age of 52 (IQR 39-60) years and median BMI of 29.40 (IQR 25.59-34.72). Majority (72.5%) had co-morbidities, and 97.7% had severe disease requiring supplementary oxygen support during the acute COVID-19 episode. 56.5% required intensive care; among which one-third were invasively ventilated. Median equivalent dose of methylprednisolone prescribed was 2.60 (IQR 1.29-5.18) mg/kg during admission, while the median prednisolone dose upon discharge was 0.64 (IQR 0.51-0.78) mg/kg. It was tapered over a median of 8.0 (IQR 5.8-9.0) weeks. Upon follow-up at 11 (IQR 8-15) weeks, one-third of patients remained symptomatic, with cough, fatigue and dyspnoea being the most reported symptoms. mMRC and EQ-VAS scores improved significantly (p<0.001) during follow-up. Repeat CT scans were done in 59.5% of patients, with 94.8% of them demonstrating improvement. In fact, 51.7% had complete radiological resolution. Intensive care admission and mechanical ventilation are among the factors which were associated with poorer radiological outcomes, p<0.05.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 101 registered female orthopaedic surgeons registered with the Malaysian Medical Council, during the period 1980 to 2020, were contacted for a cross-sectional survey, consisting of thirty-four questions on their experience in the orthopaedic career. Eighty-two responses were received (81.2%). Questions in this survey consisted of four sections: (1) demographic details, (2) current clinical practice environment, (3) orthopaedics training experience, and (4) career experience.

RESULTS: A total of 49% of respondents had subspeciality training, highest in paediatric orthopaedic (30%). Enjoyment of manual tasks (64.6%) and professional satisfaction (64.6%) were the top reasons for choosing orthopaedic as a career. Primary barriers to orthopaedic were physical strength required (56.0%) and public gender bias (52.4%). Twenty-eight percent reported gender discrimination in career opportunities while 60% reported similar in daily work. Thirty-three percent reported verbal and 11% physical sexual harassment in their career. Forty-four percent of respondents reported benefits as female orthopaedic surgeon in their work.