Introduction: Telemedicine is a growing practice with minimal training in US medical schools. Telemedicine OSCE (TeleOSCE) simulations allow students to practice this type of patient interaction in a standardized way. Methods: The Insomnia-Rural TeleOSCE was implemented as part of a required clinical clerkship for students in their second, third, or fourth year of medical school. This case addressed a patient with depression in a medically underserved area. Students performed it as a formative experience and received immediate feedback. They then completed a survey to evaluate the experience. Results: Students (n = 287) rated the quality of the experience 7.59 out of 10. Comments showed that 61 learners thought the TeleOSCE was a positive experience, 35 wanted more teaching about telemedicine, 28 improved their understanding of barriers to care, 25 expressed concern over minimal other training, 23 found the TeleOSCE important and challenging, 16 appreciated the differences between in-person and remote visits, and 15 wanted fewer distractions. Eight students worried about how they would be judged, five learned from the technical limitations, five requested more time, five were skeptical of the utility, and five saw telemedicine as triage. Discussion: The TeleOSCE allows learners to gain exposure to telemedicine in a safe simulated teaching environment and assesses learner competencies. The TeleOSCE also improves students' understanding of barriers to care and the utility of telemedicine. It logistically allows faculty to directly assess distance students on their clinical reasoning and patient communication skills.
Background
Enhanced patient outcomes and accreditation criteria have led schools to integrate interprofessional education (IPE). While several studies describe IPE curricula at individual institutions, few examine practices across multiple institutions.
Purpose
To examine the IPE integration at different institutions and determine gaps where there is potential for improvement.
Method
In this mixed methods study, we obtained survey results from 16 U.S. medical schools, 14 of which reported IPE activities.
Results
The most common collaboration was between medical and nursing schools (93%). The prevalent format was shared curriculum, often including integrated modules (57%). Small group activities represented the majority (64%) of event settings, and simulation-based learning, games and role-play (71%) were the most utilized learning methods. Thirteen schools (81.3%) reported teaching IPE competencies, but significant variation existed. Gaps and barriers in the study include limitations of using a convenience sample, limited qualitative analysis, and survey by self-report.
Conclusions
Most IPE activities focused on the physician role. Implementation challenges included scheduling, logistics and financial support. A need for effective faculty development as well as measures to examine the link between IPE learning outcomes and patient outcomes were identified.
The feasibility and acceptability of administering a telemedicine objective structured clinical exam as a solution for providing equivalent education to remote and rural learners Rural and Remote Health 15: 3399. (Online) 2015
Purpose
Behavioral and social science (BSS) competencies are needed to provide quality
health care, but psychometrically validated measures to assess these competencies are
difficult to find. Moreover, they have not been mapped to existing frameworks, like
those from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and Accreditation Council
for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). This systematic review aimed to identify and
evaluate the quality of assessment tools used to measure BSS competencies.
Method
The authors searched the literature published between January 2002 and March
2014 for articles reporting psychometric or other validity/reliability testing, using
OVID, CINAHL, PubMed, ERIC, Research and Development Resource Base, SOCIOFILE, and
PsycINFO. They reviewed 5,104 potentially relevant titles and abstracts. To guide their
review, they mapped BSS competencies to existing LCME and ACGME frameworks. The final,
included articles fell into three categories: instrument development, which were of the
highest quality; educational research, which were of the second highest quality; and
curriculum evaluation, which were of lower quality.
Results
Of the 114 included articles, 33 (29%) yielded strong evidence
supporting tools to assess communication skills, cultural competence,
empathy/compassion, behavioral health counseling, professionalism, and teamwork.
Sixty-two (54%) articles yielded moderate evidence and 19 (17%) weak
evidence. Articles mapped to all LCME standards and ACGME core competencies; the most
common was communication skills.
Conclusions
These findings serve as a valuable resource for medical educators and
researchers. More rigorous measurement validation and testing and more robust study
designs are needed to understand how educational strategies contribute to BSS competency
development.
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