Seeing primary care differently: comparing the educational value of different video formats for early, remote...

Evidence shows that early clinical experience (ECE) within general practice (GP) has multiple benefits for medical students. Yet barriers to implementation mean that efforts to expand ECE have stalled. Remote consultations, and video footage of consultations, provide a route to expand GP ECE.

We aimed to explore the extent to which different video formats, when used as part of GP ECE, influenced students' engagement with learning, their perceptions of the authenticity of the experience and their understanding of complexity in primary care.

Early-stage medical students at Newcastle University had 4 'virtual' GP visits that drew on video footage from three different formats; pre-recorded from a national database, locally recorded, and recorded 'live' on the day. A mixed methods approach was employed. Post-session questionnaires explored opinions on authenticity, learning opportunities and format preference. Semi-structured focus groups enabled deeper exploration of students' perspectives. Questionnaire data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Focus group data was analysed using inductive thematic analysis.

All formats were recognised by students as being authentic, enjoyable and relevant. However, perceptions of authenticity, and depth of student engagement, was greater when locally recorded footage was employed, most of all with live footage. Near-live footage highlighted the complexity of GPs' work, but requires deliberate, structured debrief to enable students to make sense of the consultations that they had observed.

Comparison of the educational value of different video formats used for GP ECE showed that virtual patient contact using locally recorded footage is most valued by students.