Identification of Gaps in Graduate Medical Education Telehealth Training

Abstract

Objective To identify, describe, and address gaps in telehealth training at the graduate medical education level Materials and Methods We designed a 12-question survey to capture the telehealth experiences and educational opportunities for residents and fellows in the Minneapolis/St Paul, MN region. Results There were 213 responses from 51 different specialties across 7 levels of training (PGY1-7). 66% had previously completed a telehealth visit, 89% stated that they had not performed any telehealth prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and only 15% of respondents had any formal telehealth training. Conclusions & Recommendations While telehealth volumes have seen exponential increases, training on how to effectively and efficiently carry out telehealth visits for medical trainees at the GME level has remained relatively stagnant or even non-existent. We provide examples of specialty-specific telehealth competencies, and hope that improving telehealth training quality will ultimately expand access, improve outcomes of chronic disease management and strengthen the patient-provider relationship across all specialties.