From: Medical student remote eConsult participation during the COVID-19 pandemic
Theme | Student | Faculty |
---|---|---|
Teaching | ||
Positive | • Flexible scheduling with individualized interaction and learning • Ability to work closely with an attending • Increased comfort with giving basic ID recommendations • Improved oral presentation skills | • One-on-one teaching • Joy of having students back on the teaching service • Phone teaching fairly comparable to in person rounds • Opportunity to teach students who otherwise might not have benefitted. |
Negative | • Scheduling issues due to attending workload | • Without a team, there was no ability for students to give short formal presentations to other team members. • Narrow subject matter. |
Mentoring | ||
Positive | • Nurturing relationship with the attending. | |
Negative | • Lack of in-person contact. • Time spent in discussion with the student impacted time for other learners. | |
Patient Care | ||
Positive | • Ability to follow increased number of patients. Opportunity for students to participate in patient care despite suspended clinical rotations. • Contribution to alleviating the burden on the consult team. | • Provided students with exposure to patient care during the pandemic from a safe vantage point |
Negative | • The inability to conduct a physical exam or speak with patient • Variance in eConsult patient load • Limited communication with other teams | • Few eConsult patients at end of pandemic surge |
Communication | ||
Negative | • Slower communication when not working together in person. • Lag time for questions to be answered. • Limited communication with primary care team |