, a new analysis of the curriculum identifies challenges to translating in-person exam techniques that use hands-on tools to an online setting, and proposes solutions.toward telemedicine, which enables patients to seek care from their homes using video conferencing, direct messaging on secure smartphone apps, and other electronic platforms. While virtual health care technology has existed in some form for decades, physicians still receive little formal training in its use.
"Our curriculum provides much-needed opportunities for future neurologists to hone their telemedicine skills, which will become increasingly important as the field evolves," said study senior author Arielle Kurzweil, MD.
The results also showed that residents overwhelmingly preferred active training where they could directly participate compared to more traditional educational methods such as literature, and all first-year trainees rated the curriculum as useful, educational, and worth repeating in the future. Residents are also evaluated on how deftly they guide the patient actors through common technical issues, like operating the"unmute function" or adjusting the camera so it captures their face and upper body. In addition, since the trainees cannot provide motor and sensory tests with tools themselves, they must coach patients to perform self-assessments, for example, lightly stroking their limbs with a cold spoon or tissue and describing what they feel.