Advances in Medical Education and Practice (Oct 2021)
Lessons Learned from the Development and Implementation of Virtual and Telehealth Interprofessional Educational Clinics
Abstract
Erin R Leiman,1 Kathleen A Waite,2 Daniel A Ostrovsky3 1Department of Surgery, Division of Emergency Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; 2Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; 3Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medicine-Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USACorrespondence: Erin R LeimanDepartment of Surgery, Division of Emergency Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Duke University Hospital, Box 3096, 2301 Erwin Road, Durham, NC, 27710, USATel +1 919 681 0196Fax +1 919 681 8521Email [email protected]: The Interprofessional Educational (IPE) Clinic at Duke is a clinical experience that has allowed an interprofessional team, including health professions students, to care for patients in the emergency department (ED) since 2015. COVID-19 presented fundamental challenges to the structure of this experience, such as student restrictions on attending clinical experiences and limitations on the number of providers in a patient room, which necessitated a transition from face-to-face encounters to virtual ones.Materials and Methods: As a result, two virtual experiences were implemented; one was based in the ED with in-person faculty and patients with virtual learners and one staffed by ambulatory providers engaging in telehealth clinics. These experiences sought to provide an interprofessional clinical experience for students while following appropriate safety guidelines. Surveys were distributed to students post-clinic to gather student demographics and their feedback regarding the experience. Additionally, faculty preceptors provided insight into the experience, especially regarding logistics and infrastructure.Results: The virtual experiences successfully allowed teams of students to participate remotely in aspects of care including history taking, physical assessments, and medical decision-making. Additionally, the virtual care team structure allowed for senior students to mentor junior learners and for faculty members to provide point of care feedback. Students gained practical experience in telehealth that included logistics and challenges of providing virtual care and appreciating how technological barriers such as lack of access to internet-connected devices can be a source of disparity.Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic required the reconfiguration of an in-person clinical experience to a virtual experience and this pivot was well received by students and faculty. The lessons learned can be generalizable to other professional schools who may be seeking to develop an interprofessional clinical experience and are exploring telehealth options.Keywords: telehealth, interprofessional collaborative practice, ambulatory care, medical education, COVID-19
