Implementing telemedicine into clinical training through pre-recorded video consultations

Abstract

Although the contribution of real patient encounters to medical education is well known, challenges such as a lack of suitable cases, patients not consenting to student involvement, physical space limitations that prevent every student from participating, the inability to replicate the same patient encounter, and reduced patient admissions to healthcare facilities during extraordinary periods are common obstacles that need to be addressed in clinical education. To overcome these challenges, video consultation (VC) recordings, which were made with the consent of patients having a telemedicine consultation, were collected as an archive of medical interview recordings covering a wide spectrum of pulmonary diseases. These recordings were watched by students in a classroom setting during clinical clerkships, with case discussions interspersed. This article, which also discusses the results of clinical clerkship evaluations, indicates that the use of pre-recorded VC sessions can be an effective tool for teaching good clinical practices through the ideal method of medical interviews, diagnostic approaches, evaluation of test results, communication skills with patients and their relatives, and addressing the socio-psychological aspects and social impacts of diseases. As an innovative attempt, sharing this process at an early stage of development may inspire enthusiasm for implementing this approach and open the field for further development.