Adapting a first- and second-year medical student psychiatric interview course for virtual learning

Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a first- and second-year psychiatric interviewing course was converted to a virtual platform with interviews performed via video conferencing. Telepsychiatry has been shown to be an effective modality for patient care, but little is known about the effectiveness of using this modality to teach the psychiatric interview. We sought to examine how switching to remote learning would affect the quality of the course. Methods: We compared student course evaluations from 2019 (in-person) with evaluations from the 2020 (virtual). Using Likert scales, students were asked to rate their comfort in interviewing patients, discussing emotional and psychological topics, and documenting the encounter. Student responses were supplemented with qualitative feedback and input from faculty facilitators. Results: We found no significant difference in student reports of their overall experience with the course, comfort with interviewing patients or with discussing emotional and psychological issues. The course reduced student self-reported stigma toward mental illness. Conclusions: The virtual delivery of this course offers learners a very similar experience to an in-person course. Looking beyond the pandemic, this model could have applications in other institutions where geographic or other logistical considerations would impede the implementation of such a course in-person.