A Qualitative Study on Using Telemedicine for Precepting and Teaching in the Academic Setting

Abstract

PurposeTo examine the impact of telemedicine use on precepting and teaching among preceptors and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodThe authors conducted a secondary analysis of a qualitative study focusing on providers' and patients' experiences with and attitudes toward telemedicine at 4 academic health centers. Teaching and precepting were emergent codes from the data and organized into themes. Themes were mapped to domains from the 2009 Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), a framework that assists with effective implementation and consists of 5 domains: intervention characteristics, outer settings, inner settings, characteristics of individuals, and process.

Development, Implementation, and Assessment of an Online Modular Telehealth Curriculum for Health Professions Students

“… 1 , 2 These changes required providers from various health professions to develop a skillset for providing virtual care for which they had no prior training. 3 Several professional organizations have either developed competencies or expressed the need for telehealth competency adoption in health professions training programs. 4–6 Review of these competencies demonstrates a great deal of overlap between professions.…”

“…Second, given telehealth’s relatively sudden expansion into “mainstream” healthcare delivery, educators have limited expertise and evidence at their disposal to create formal learning experiences. 3 Logistically, health professions programs utilize various schedules and learning management systems, and due to the proprietary nature of each, developing telehealth course content is complex and requires attention to compatibility for successful tracking of student course participation, evaluation, and completion. Given the necessity of telehealth training for health professions students, development and implementation of telehealth curricula that address the stated challenges is needed.…”

Addressing the Weak Evidence Base on Precepting With Telemedicine in Medical Education

“…We commend Raffa and colleagues 1 for investigating the role of telemedicine in precepting and teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the significant limitations in the study—from the use of data collected for another purpose 2 to the absence of information about the providers and technological modalities used—highlight the mismatch between the widespread use of telemedicine for precepting and the dearth of rigorous studies exploring its safety and efficacy.…”