Telemedicine and Medical Education in the Age of COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has offered medical schools an opportunity to incorporate telemedicine training into the curricula in a timely and practical manner. Telemedicine has grown exponentially in the United States, and the shift toward remote care to align with social distancing guidelines is fueling this growth. Training medical students to deliver high-quality, secure, and personalized health care through telemedicine will prepare the next generation of physicians to conscientiously use these technologies and meet a growing need for telehealth services. Telemedicine-specific educational goals can be incorporated into curricula and integrated with existing clinical experiences to provide students with core telemedicine and clinical skills to prepare them for current and future pandemics. Medical educators could explore 5 major telemedicine domains: (1) access to care, (2) cost, (3) cost-effectiveness, (4) patient experience, and (5) clinician experience. Schools could use the following learning vehicles to help medical students explore these domains: (1) asynchronous lectures covering telehealth history; (2) discussions on applications, ethics, safety, etiquette, and patient considerations; (3) faculty-supervised standardized patient telehealth encounters; and (4) hands-on diagnostic or therapeutic procedures using telehealth equipment. Incorporating telemedicine into the medical school curriculum exposes students to the application of telemedicine across specialties as well as its limitations.

Teledermatology During COVID-19: An Updated Review

“…Even more concerning, there is not a standardized curriculum in place for teaching telemedicine across the US [ 58 ]. The lack of standardized telemedicine training has become evident during the rapid transition to TD during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many providers continue to voice telemedicine concerns, such as risk of compromised patient care [ 59 ]. These concerns could be minimized with a standardized and required curriculum for TD implemented in residency, allowing physicians to increase confidence in patient care and be more willing to practice telemedicine.…”

Mindful Medical Education Online

“…This includes the use of online standardized patients, virtual Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), and crowd-sourced assessment of technical skills (C-SATS) such as surgical procedures [70][71][72][73]. These recommendations are also relevant to telemedicine which is often taught online [74].…”

Designing Futuristic Telemedicine Using Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in the COVID-19 Era

“…Further upstream in the telemedical framework, it is important to consider the integration of educational models for physicians and trainees, and particularly how these technologies may address the issues of connecting distributed learners (particularly in the era of a pandemic) (36), and providing highquality educating, training, and just-in-time training, in a way that is trusted, safe, and replicates the quality of "in-person" training, particularly when it comes to surgical procedures (37,38). Immersive technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality could enhance capabilities for collaboration, both amongst learners and physicians in practice (39).…”