Before joining medical school, we frequently imagined our roles as future physicians: long hours rounding on hospital floors, dealing with high-stress situations in the emergency department, or sitting with a family to help them process a difficult diagnosis. All of these situations centered around working in-person with patients.
Over the next 2 hours, we watched this highly skilled clinician struggle to connect with patients. Seamless interactions became choppy and unnatural, conversations felt forced, symptom assessment became less effective, and empathy failed to shine through. She explained that COVID had abruptly forced her to move to this platform, where she felt unprepared.After this interaction, we aimed to learn more about the growing role of telemedicine.
Today, we are determined to be leaders in medical education to catalyze the adoption of telemedicine training for medical students. My shadowing experience juxtaposed a physician's masterful in-person care and their struggles via telemedicine, demonstrating the importance of proper training for telemedical practice.