Medical students experience in working in a public COVID-19 telehealth program: a descriptive study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Digital Health

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated innovative healthcare delivery models.
• The Telehealth Network of Minas Gerais implemented the TeleCOVID-MG program for COVID-19 patient care.
• Medical students played a key role in telemonitoring under physician supervision.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the experiences of medical students involved in the TeleCOVID-MG telemonitoring program.
• To assess student perceptions of system usability and patient interaction.
• To understand the overall satisfaction and perceived benefits of telehealth participation.

Main Methods:

• A 27-question survey was administered to participating medical students.
• The questionnaire covered student demographics, system usability, and satisfaction.
• Data was collected via Google Forms and distributed via email.

Main Results:

• Sixty medical students (70% women, median age 25) participated.
• Most students (61.6%) served for over 6 months and conducted >100 calls.
• Key challenges included patient contact difficulties (95.2%) and perceived patient insecurity (60.3%), alongside system instabilities (39.6%).
• Strengths included system usability and perceived healthcare quality.
• Technical issues were reported by 68.3% but promptly resolved (96.6%).

Conclusions:

• Undergraduate medical students demonstrated a successful engagement in COVID-19 telemonitoring.
• The program offered valuable remote clinical practice continuity during class suspensions.
• Students' contributions aided low-income patient care, reducing health system strain during the emergency.