Telehealth Competencies: Training Physicians for a New Reality?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Informatics
• Digital Health

Background:

• Telehealth use surged 40% in North America (2019-2020) and remained high in 2021.
• Healthcare providers need specific skills to navigate telehealth challenges.
• Despite increased use, widespread telehealth education faces adoption barriers like faculty shortages and limited curriculum time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the need for effective telehealth education strategies.
• To explore barriers in implementing telehealth curricula.
• To identify optimal pedagogical methods for telehealth competency training.

Main Methods:

• The article reviews current challenges in telehealth education.
• It proposes telesimulation as a key instructional method.
• It discusses the integration of telesimulation into healthcare curricula.

Main Results:

• Telesimulation provides practical, hands-on training for telehealth skills.
• It enhances technical proficiency, communication, and interprofessional collaboration.
• It offers a scalable solution to overcome faculty and time constraints in education.

Conclusions:

• Telehealth education is crucial for sustainable remote care.
• Telesimulation is an effective method for developing essential telehealth competencies.
• Integrating telesimulation can bridge the gap in current healthcare training programs.