Telesimulation: students’ satisfaction with a program to develop clinical skills

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 prompted alternative strategies for teaching clinical skills. Telesimulation uses telecommunication resources to provide learning environments at distant sites. At Westhill University School of Medicine, practices with telesimulation were designed to develop clinical skills in medical students. This study assessed student satisfaction.

Objective: To know students’ satisfaction with a telesimulation program to develop clinical skills.

Method: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. A survey was answered voluntarily and anonymously by medical students who participated in a telesimulation program from September 2020 to September 2021. The survey was designed based on the “Satisfaction with Simulation Experience Scale” and, was sent to 225 medical students through Google FormsTM to measure satisfaction with the program.

Results: 143 students answered the survey. On a scale of 1 to 5 (Likert format), the students’ satisfaction was 3.89 ± 1.21. 80% claimed they were able to actively participate in patient care simulation. 76% said that physical examination, presented by multimedia resources and telemedicine, was sufficient to integrate diagnosis. 69% agreed that telesimulation adequately complements clinical rotations in real clinical environments.

Conclusions: Students appreciate telesimulation. In the current educational context, telesimulation is an effective tool to develop some clinical skills.