Telesimulation: a strategy to develop clinical skills in medical students

Abstract

Background: SARS-CoV2 pandemic generated important changes in educational environment and, derived from social distancing for containment COVID-19, face-to-face activities in undergraduate students were suspended. Telesimulation is an educational strategy that uses telecommunications and simulation for to train and evaluate students outside a simulation center.
Method: This study aimed to explore teacher’s perception during planning, development and implementation of a strategy telesimulation to develop clinical skills in undergraduate students. For this purpose, we conducted a qualitative study through semi-structured interviews.
Results: A total of 7 teachers were interviewed. Participants believed during SARS-CoV2 pandemic, telesimulation is a valuable tool to develop critical thinking, decision-making, information management and professionalism; however, they recognized its usefulness may be limited in developing procedural skills. During development and implementation, they faced lack of time, technological difficulties and uncertainty and mistrust of students before a new educational strategy.
Conclusions: Telesimulation is a useful tool for development of clinical skills. The implementation of this strategy faces difficulties similar to those that arise during any educational innovation.