Development of a Virtual Pediatric Telemedicine Training Program

Background: Medical students and pediatric residents are not routinely trained in urgent care telemedicine. Increased demand for virtual care following the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to remain, underscoring the need for health care organizations to develop structured training programs that meet t...

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Main Authors: Joanne Murren-Boezem, Cynthia M. Zettler-Greeley, Andrea Ali-Panzarella, Patricia Solo-Josephson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Mary Ann Liebert 2024-04-01
Series:Telemedicine Reports
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Online Access:https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmr.2024.0004
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author Joanne Murren-Boezem
Cynthia M. Zettler-Greeley
Andrea Ali-Panzarella
Patricia Solo-Josephson
author_facet Joanne Murren-Boezem
Cynthia M. Zettler-Greeley
Andrea Ali-Panzarella
Patricia Solo-Josephson
author_sort Joanne Murren-Boezem
collection DOAJ
description Background: Medical students and pediatric residents are not routinely trained in urgent care telemedicine. Increased demand for virtual care following the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to remain, underscoring the need for health care organizations to develop structured training programs that meet the changing educational requirements of future pediatricians. Materials and Methods: The Nemours IRB reviewed this study and designated it a “Not Research” (#1905675). This mixed-methods study assessed knowledge and comfort levels with telemedicine before and after participants completed a virtual telemedicine training rotation. Seven medical students and pediatric residents completed a brief, pre- and post-rotation survey with multiple-choice, true/false, and open-ended questions. Open-ended questions were thematically analyzed. Results: Improvement in participant knowledge was most notable for understanding the diagnostic limitations of telemedicine. At pretest, only 28.6% of participants believed they could adequately perform a telemedicine examination; after the program, 100% reported comfort with the modality. The most common theme among the participants was the belief that telemedicine played a role in expanding health care access. Discussion: Most participants chose the rotation because of their curiosity about telehealth and came into the training with some general knowledge of its purpose and operation. Exposure to various teaching methods, one-on-one time with attending physicians, and exposure to telemedicine clinical guidelines resulted in positive overall experiences. Conclusion: Our virtual telemedicine rotation curriculum uses an iterative process based on participant feedback to provide a learning experience that is increasingly improved to meet the knowledge level of our participants. Through this quality improvement lens, we aim to maximize participant learning and motivate the development of other remote telemedicine training programs.
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spelling doaj-art-c28c79a2f6cd40b18a14e33287b084cf2025-08-20T02:31:31ZengMary Ann LiebertTelemedicine Reports2692-43662024-04-015112313310.1089/tmr.2024.0004Development of a Virtual Pediatric Telemedicine Training ProgramJoanne Murren-Boezem0Cynthia M. Zettler-Greeley1Andrea Ali-Panzarella2Patricia Solo-Josephson3Digital Health Department, Nemours Children’s Health, Orlando, Florida, USA, Section on Telehealth Care, American Academy of Pediatrics, Itasca, Illinois, USA, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, Florida, USA.Digital Health Department, Nemours Children’s Health, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.Digital Health Department, Nemours Children’s Health, Orlando, Florida, USA, Section on Telehealth Care, American Academy of Pediatrics, Itasca, Illinois, USA, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, Florida, USA.Digital Health Department, Nemours Children’s Health, Orlando, Florida, USA, Section on Telehealth Care, American Academy of Pediatrics, Itasca, Illinois, USA, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, Florida, USA.Background: Medical students and pediatric residents are not routinely trained in urgent care telemedicine. Increased demand for virtual care following the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to remain, underscoring the need for health care organizations to develop structured training programs that meet the changing educational requirements of future pediatricians. Materials and Methods: The Nemours IRB reviewed this study and designated it a “Not Research” (#1905675). This mixed-methods study assessed knowledge and comfort levels with telemedicine before and after participants completed a virtual telemedicine training rotation. Seven medical students and pediatric residents completed a brief, pre- and post-rotation survey with multiple-choice, true/false, and open-ended questions. Open-ended questions were thematically analyzed. Results: Improvement in participant knowledge was most notable for understanding the diagnostic limitations of telemedicine. At pretest, only 28.6% of participants believed they could adequately perform a telemedicine examination; after the program, 100% reported comfort with the modality. The most common theme among the participants was the belief that telemedicine played a role in expanding health care access. Discussion: Most participants chose the rotation because of their curiosity about telehealth and came into the training with some general knowledge of its purpose and operation. Exposure to various teaching methods, one-on-one time with attending physicians, and exposure to telemedicine clinical guidelines resulted in positive overall experiences. Conclusion: Our virtual telemedicine rotation curriculum uses an iterative process based on participant feedback to provide a learning experience that is increasingly improved to meet the knowledge level of our participants. Through this quality improvement lens, we aim to maximize participant learning and motivate the development of other remote telemedicine training programs.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmr.2024.0004telemedicinepediatricstrainingvirtual
spellingShingle Joanne Murren-Boezem
Cynthia M. Zettler-Greeley
Andrea Ali-Panzarella
Patricia Solo-Josephson
Development of a Virtual Pediatric Telemedicine Training Program
Telemedicine Reports
telemedicine
pediatrics
training
virtual
title Development of a Virtual Pediatric Telemedicine Training Program
title_full Development of a Virtual Pediatric Telemedicine Training Program
title_fullStr Development of a Virtual Pediatric Telemedicine Training Program
title_full_unstemmed Development of a Virtual Pediatric Telemedicine Training Program
title_short Development of a Virtual Pediatric Telemedicine Training Program
title_sort development of a virtual pediatric telemedicine training program
topic telemedicine
pediatrics
training
virtual
url https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmr.2024.0004
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