Virtual Visits in Medical Education: A Medical Student and Resident Perspective

Necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual care is now a fixture in health care delivery. Literature describes the pivot to virtual clinical education; however, less is known about the learner experience. Understanding perspectives of medical students and residents provides insight to optimize the educational experience in virtual care.

Third-year medical students and general surgery residents at an academic teaching institution rated their experience of virtual clinic compared to in-person clinic through an anonymous 20-question survey. Questions were on a 5-point Likert scale with narrative opportunities and queried 4 learner objectives: patient care, systems-based practice, education, and faculty engagement. Medical student and resident responses were compared using a t-test.

Lowest rated items included the ability to perform an accurate physical exam, engage with faculty, promote efficiency, and learn clinical skills. Residents gave lower ratings than medical students on all questions. There were significant differences between medical students and residents (P < .05) in actively participating in patient care, obtaining patient history, having adequate time for patient history, and facilitating efficiency. Narrative themes included faculty variability, virtual visits as additive but insufficient to replace in-person visits, and the importance of being in the same physical space or Zoom Room as faculty.

Learners perceive the ability to perform a physical exam, promote efficiency, and engage with faculty to be compromised in the virtual clinic setting. Residents had less favorable perceptions of virtual clinic compared to medical students. Faculty should consider these varying learner perceptions to optimize the educational environment in virtual care.