Training tomorrow’s family doctors in a virtual clinic today.
Pavlo KOLESNYK, Alex HARDING, Katarzyna NESSLER and Vladyslav LAZARYK
As medical education faces the challenge of training an increasing number of future family doctors (FDs), we must innovate to expand clinical teaching capacity without compromising educational quality. This workshop introduces the concept of utilizing virtual clinical settings as an extension of physical teaching capacity. We pose the question in the beginning: “How many students can you accommodate in your clinical practice for teaching at once as one mentor?”This workshop aims to explore how to increase the number of students gaining exposure to general practice teaching by using virtual clinical settings while maintaining or enhancing the quality of the educational experience.Participants will be invited to actively engage as "students" in a real-life virtual consultation conducted by an experienced general practitioner mentor and the patients in the real practice. This practical demonstration will showcase the logistics, technology, and pedagogical techniques required to facilitate effective group teaching. The focus will be on maintaining interaction, facilitating reflective practice, and ensuring adequate observation opportunities for all attendees.The core of the session will be a facilitated discussion focusing on the feasibility and possible limitations of the suggested method. Participants will provide crucial feedback on the perceived pros and cons of virtual clinical teaching.By the end of this session, participants will have a clearer understanding of the possibilities and practical limitations of incorporating virtual clinical consultations into their family medicine training programs. Take-home notes will be outlined.
