Embedding telephone consultations into the undergraduate medical curriculum

Abstract

The future undergraduate curriculum should reflect this, given that 38.1% of medical students will go on into primary care. 8 We do not know exactly how the future will unfold; however, we feel that even if there is a gradual shift back towards routine in-person consultations as the standard, the use of telephone consultations will undoubtedly be utilized to a much greater extent. Additionally, these audio-consultation skills are now being examined in the form of Recorded Consultation Assessments (RCA) in the Royal College of General Practitioners Curriculum. 9 We feel that this should be extended and considered for undergraduate assessments as well-preparing them for the evolving reality of the medical workplace that they will enter in tomorrow's world.