Good for patients but not learners? Exploring faculty and learner virtual care integration

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Digital Health
• Healthcare Delivery

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated virtual care adoption, necessitating rapid faculty adaptation to teaching learners in this new modality.
• Limited pre-pandemic literature exists on virtual care education, necessitating insights from frontline experiences during extraordinary circumstances.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore faculty and learner experiences with integrating learners into virtual care settings.
• To identify challenges and benefits of virtual care education from both educator and trainee perspectives.

Main Methods:

• A constructivist grounded theory methodology was employed, using sociomateriality as a sensitizing concept.
• 16 faculty and 5 learners from a Canadian university were interviewed using purposeful and theoretical sampling.
• Data collection and analysis were iterative, utilizing constant comparative analysis.

Main Results:

• Initial integration challenges stemmed from unfamiliarity, later exacerbated by disrupted virtual clinic workflows.
• Both faculty and learners noted learning deficiencies compared to in-person clinics, alongside unique learning opportunities.
• Faculty desired continued virtual care but were reluctant to involve learners.

Conclusions:

• Training learners in virtual care remains an ongoing educational challenge post-pandemic.
• The perceived patient value but not learner value in virtual care suggests a need to re-examine sociomaterial factors contributing to this paradox.