Teleoncology: Assessing online communication skills of millennial medical students.

Abstract

e13616 Background: COVID-19 posed new challenges in patient care and led to an increase in teleoncology. This paper analyzes telemedicine communication skills of millennial medical students of the postgraduate program of Clinical Oncology at Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires. Methods: Student assessment was based on a video call interaction with simulated patients in two stations (30 minutes each) of the Virtual Observational Standard Clinical Examination (V-OSCE), implemented in November 2020. Students received virtual communication guidelines and participated in training sessions to use the video call platform. All interactions were recorded. Assessment items (Table). Results: A total of 25 students were evaluated: 1 (4%) was ineligible due to network connection issues; 24 (96%) participated in both interactions. We analyzed 48 interactions in total. Opening: 6/48 interactions completed all five required items. Most recurring problems: not checking for patient’s previous experience with teleoncology (37/48) and not providing an alternative communication channel in case of technical difficulties (40/48). Middle: the results were similar to in-person interaction observed in previous exams, 35/48 interactions completed all required items. End: 16/48 interactions completed both items. In 32/48 the student did not check for patient understanding of the information provided. Only 3/48 interactions completed all 12 items. Conclusions: A) The V-OSCE is a useful tool to practice and evaluate teleoncology communication skills. B) The Middle Moment of the interactions was similar to an in-person interaction. However, the Opening and End of the interview were more challenging. The most critical struggles being: checking for patient’s previous experience in teleoncology, providing an alternative communication channel in case of technical difficulties and checking for patient understanding. C) COVID-19 established new forms of communication that are likely to remain even after the pandemic has ended. It is important to address this demand for online communication skills in medical education curricula.[Table: see text]