Teaching Teleconsultation Program: perceptions of professors and students of a peruvian medical school

Abstract

Introduction: The occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru required an immediate response and multiple changes in both healthcare and health professional training. The School of Medicine in Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia implemented the Teleconsultation Faculty Program (FTP), aiming to continue with training medicine students in a virtual environment. However, the acceptance of those involved in virtual education is unknown, a condition that may reflect what has happened in other medical schools in our country. Main: our study sought to assess the perception of students and teachers regarding FTP. Methods: observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was developed to explore perceptions of telemedicine in a teaching scenario. Results: More than 80% of teachers and 60% of students considered that the FTP could be used as a teaching tool. More than 90% of teachers and students consider that performing telemedicine was not more difficult than doing a face-to-face consultation. Sixty percent of students and 80% of teachers perceive that students must develop skills in telemedicine; 80% of teachers and students consider that FTP constitutes a service with social responsibility. Teachers and students consider that the success in the implementation of an FTP is influenced by the level of acceptance of the population (20.2%), the use of electronic medical records (19.4%), and training in digital skills (18.6%). Conclusion: Teachers and students using FTP perceive telemedicine as a useful tool for assessing health problems. Both perceive that through telemedicine sessions, skills required to complete the medical school graduate profile could be acquired.