ABSTRACT
Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic limited pre-clinical medical students from participating in traditional clinical in-person shadowing. Rather than eliminating clinical shadowing from an established leadership course, we describe the experience of six pre-clinical medical students shadowing physician preceptors remotely through virtual platforms. Methods: Six pre-clinical medical students enrolled in 2020's Weill Cornell Medicine's Healthcare Leadership and Management Scholars Program were prepared with training materials for on-camera patient care. Students shadowed emergency medicine (EM) physicians providing clinical care in one of our New York Presbyterian emergency departments (EDs) and through telemedicine. Pre- and postsurveys were provided to these students. Results: From three different U.S. time zones, students were safely able to shadow EM physicians. The educational fidelity was maintained in physician-student relationships, but revealed opportunities for improvement in students' clinical learning, in ED clinical care, and in telemedicine visits. Conclusions: Virtual clinical shadowing is a viable option for pre-clinical students, when in-person options are not available. With logistical adjustments, this medium may be a long-term educational option especially for telemedicine.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Telemedicine has become part of mainstream medical practice. High quality virtual care is a skill that will be required of many physicians. Skills required for effective evaluation and communication during a video encounter differ from skills required at bedside, yet few rubrics for educational content and student performance evaluation in telemedicine training have been developed. Our objective was to develop, implement, and assess a training module designed to teach medical providers techniques to deliver professional, effective, and compassionate care during a telemedicine encounter. Methods: We created a simulation-based, 8-hour modular curriculum using the PEARLS debriefing framework with video-based encounters focused on "web-side manner" as a critical corollary to traditional bedside manner. We recorded simulated cases for each student with standardized patients, guided debriefs, and incorporated small-group exercises to teach advanced communication and examination skills. Results: Of medical students, 98 in their major clinical year participated in 2019. Of participants, 97% were enthusiastic about the course; 100% felt simulation was an effective mechanism for delivery of the educational material. After participation, 71% believed that telemedicine had the potential to become part of their future practice; 92% perceived an improvement in their comfort and ability to conduct video-based patient encounters. Discussion: Teaching telemedicine using this methodology was well received by students, providing early exposure to this evolving aspect of medical practice. Qualitative comments were used for targeted improvements of the content and delivery for curriculum development. Objective assessment tools of students completing telemedicine encounters need to be created.