Emergency medicine clerkship goes online: Evaluation of a telesimulation programme

Gayathri Nadarajan, Kirsty Freeman, Paul Wan, Jia Hao Lim, Abegail Fernandez, Evelyn Wong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 challenged a graduate medical student Emergency Medicine Clinical Clerkship to transform a 160-hour face-to-face clinical syllabus to a remotely delivered e-learning programme comprising of live streamed lectures, case-based discussions, and telesimulation experiences. This paper outlines the evaluation of the telesimulation component of a programme that was designed as a solution to COVID-19 restriction.

Methods: A mixed methods approach was used to evaluate the telesimulation educational activities. Via a post-course online survey student were asked to rate the pre-simulation preparation, level of engagement, confidence in recognising and responding to the four clinical presentations and to evaluate telesimulation as a tool to prepare for working in the clinical environment. Students responded to open-ended questions describing their experience in greater depth.

Results: Forty-two (72.4%) out of 58 students responded. 97.62% agreed that participating in the simulation was interesting and useful and 90.48% felt that this will provide a good grounding prior to clinical work. Four key themes were identified: Fidelity, Realism, Engagement and Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Outcomes. Limitations of telesimulation included the inability to examine patients, perform procedures and experience non-verbal cues of team members and patients; but this emphasised importance of non-verbal cues and close looped communication. Additionally, designing the telesimulation according to defined objectives and scheduling it after the theory teaching contributed to successful execution.

Conclusion: Telesimulation is an effective alternative when in-person teaching is not possible and if used correctly, can sharpen non-tactile aspects of clinical care such as history taking, executing treatment algorithms and team communication.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)56-66
Number of pages11
JournalThe Asia Pacific Scholar
Volume6
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Jul 2021
Externally publishedYes

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