Abstract
BackgroundSeveral publications on research into eHealth demonstrate promising results. Prior researchers indicated that the current generation of doctors is not trained to take advantage of eHealth in clinical practice. Therefore, training and education for everyone using eHealth are key factors to its successful implementation. We set out to review whether medical students feel prepared to take advantage of eHealth innovations in medicine.ObjectiveOur objective was to evaluate whether medical students desire a dedicated eHealth curriculum during their medical studies.MethodsA questionnaire assessing current education, the need for education about eHealth topics, and the didactical forms for teaching these topics was developed. Questionnaire items were scored on a scale from 1 (fully disagree with a topic) to 10 (fully agree with a topic). This questionnaire was distributed among 1468 medical students of Maastricht University in the Netherlands. R version 3.5.0 (The R Foundation) was used for all statistical procedures.ResultsA total of 303 students out of 1468, representing a response rate of 20.64%, replied to our questionnaire. The aggregate statement “I feel prepared to take advantage of the technological developments within the medical field” was scored at a mean value of 4.8 out of 10. Mean scores regarding the need for education about eHealth topics ranged from 6.4 to 7.3. Medical students did not favor creating their own health apps or mobile apps; the mean score was 4.9 for this topic. The most popular didactical option, with a mean score 7.2, was to remotely follow a real-life patient under the supervision of a doctor.ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, this is the largest evaluation of students’ opinions on eHealth training in a medical undergraduate curriculum. We found that medical students have positives attitudes toward incorporating eHealth into the medical curriculum.
Highlights
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, eHealth is the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to provide enhanced health services to communities [1]. eHealth services are defined as telehealth, electronic health records, mobile health, social media, and big data [1]
1468 invitations were sent to medical students to participate in the survey using social media, WhatsApp, and the platforms provided by the medical student association
There was a discrepancy between eHealth-related content in current medical education and the amount of eHealth training that is considered useful by medical students
Summary
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, eHealth is the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to provide enhanced health services to communities [1]. eHealth services are defined as telehealth, electronic health records, mobile health, social media, and big data [1]. A review of 58 systematic reviews showed that overall eHealth provides beneficial results in a wide variety of medical applications [12]. These developments improve the quality of care or maintain the current standard and reduce health care costs [13,14,15]. These studies indicate that eHealth would allow for a change clinical practice for the better by using technology. Prior researchers indicated that the current generation of doctors is not trained to take advantage of eHealth in clinical practice. We found that medical students have positives attitudes toward incorporating eHealth into the medical curriculum
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