An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis of paediatric cardiology trainee experiences during COVID-19.

Disruption to routine activities of service delivery, training and home-life pervaded the pandemic and was experienced as stasis. Technology maintained the trainee's connection to the content of work but left them feeling isolated from its context. Vulnerability arose from interplay between illness, uncertainty and perception of risk, contrasted against strength drawn from compassion and the discovery of resilience. Supporting trainees as we emerge from the initial phase of the pandemic requires us to review how we understand and address wellness, including the contribution of organisational and systemic factors to its protection. Participants described varying states of impaired wellness and experienced a normalisation of aspects of vulnerability. We theorise that trainees were able to find opportunities for growth and the development of resilience within the space that this created.