Introduction: there is a high prevalence of mental health problems in the medical profession and especially in residents of medical surgical specialties, associated with multiple risk factors which have been exacerbated by stress factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in Colombia there are no recent studies that show information in this regard. Objectives: to characterize the mental health problems (depressive and anxious symptoms, suicidal ideation, burnout syndrome and problematic use of alcohol and psychoactive substances of physicians in residency programs in Colombia, in association with the SARS CoV 2 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: a cross sectional study was carried out, from OCT 2020 to FEB 2021 a virtual survey was sent to those doctors who were studying any year of residence in the national territory. Sociodemographic characteristics, how they have experienced the pandemic, as well as several self-applied instruments including: PHQ-9, GAD-7, Roberts suicide ideation scale, CAGE, DAST-10 and Burnout screening inventory (were assessed. Results: 95 people answered the questionnaire. 56 (were women with a mean age of 29 years. The presence of anxious and depressive symptoms was evidenced in 34.7% (n= and 32.8% (n= of the participants, respectively. 24.2% (n 23) exhibited suicidal ideation, 11.6% (n 11) burnout syndrome, 25.2% (n 24) presented problematic alcohol consumption, and only one person described abuse or dependence for psychoactive substances. Likewise, a trend to higher levels of mental health problems was observed when the physicians was exposed to or a person close to COVID-19.
