Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Clinical placements in General Practice: concepts and considerations of implementing remote virtual placements in the COVID world

Taggar, Jaspal S; Saha, Runa; Hopwood-Carr, Paula; Patel, Bakula; Johnson, Christine

Clinical placements in General Practice: concepts and considerations of implementing remote virtual placements in the COVID world Thumbnail


Authors

Dr JASPAL TAGGAR JASPAL.TAGGAR@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Professor of Primary Care and Medical Education

RUNA SAHA RUNA.SAHA@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Clinical Teaching Fellow and Community Clinical Subdean

Paula Hopwood-Carr

BAKULA PATEL BAKULA.PATEL@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Director of Clinical Communication Skill S



Abstract

Medical students are considered as ‘essential workers’ within the National Health Service (NHS) and the delivery of clinical experience is essential to their learning and progression into the workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the delivery of clinical placements in Primary care; GPs are currently delivering the majority of consultations using telephone or video methods and difficulties in attaining placement experience are being encountered by medical students. Virtual remote consultations are an appropriate adjunct to conventional face-to-face patient encounters and could facilitate students to attain core learning outcomes. This article describes some of the approaches that enable remote (home) virtual patient encounters in Primary Care for medical students. These are categorised as methods that a) enable remote access into GP clinical systems, b) enable remote access into individual patient consultations and c) enable an observational only experience. Key considerations are highlighted to enable safe and effective implementation of remote virtual consultations, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each method. These include patient consent, confidentiality, data sharing and protection, professionalism, student agreements and data gathering templates. It is hoped that sharing of these methods of virtual consulting will support ongoing delivery of Primary Care education across medical schools.

Citation

Taggar, J. S., Saha, R., Hopwood-Carr, P., Patel, B., & Johnson, C. (2021). Clinical placements in General Practice: concepts and considerations of implementing remote virtual placements in the COVID world. Education for Primary Care, 32(4), 237-244. https://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2021.1907790

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 22, 2021
Online Publication Date Apr 10, 2021
Publication Date Apr 10, 2021
Deposit Date Mar 1, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Education for Primary Care
Print ISSN 1473-9879
Electronic ISSN 1475-990X
Publisher Taylor & Francis Open
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 32
Issue 4
Pages 237-244
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2021.1907790
Keywords Medical Education, Primary Care Placement, Virtual, Remote consultation, COVID-19
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5361945
Publisher URL https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14739879.2021.1907790
Additional Information This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Education for Primary Care on 10.04.2021, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14739879.2021.1907790