The Need for Telehealth Education in the Medical School Curriculum

The need for telehealth increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to be a popular method for patients to consult with their physicians. As telemedicine has expanded and become an integral part of a physician's daily practice, a question arises: how does one translate an in-person visit to a virtual one? Therefore, we proposed a research study to assess the need to incorporate more telehealth education into the medical school curriculum. We began by surveying third- and fourth-year medical students at Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM) to see how often they conducted or were exposed to telehealth visits during their clinical rotations. In addition, we also assessed their confidence in performing a telehealth visit, along with which part of the clinical encounter was most difficult for the students. Out of 368 students surveyed, we received only 43 responses, which is considered low and represents a limitation of our study. However, based on the collected responses, combined with other referenced articles, it is evident that there is a need for a more established addition to the curriculum regarding telehealth education. In this paper, we also proposed a variety of possible solutions to fulfill this need so that future medical students will feel fully prepared when encountering a patient virtually.