When the Student Becomes the Teacher —

Engaging Medical Students to Improve

Telemedicine Adoption

Elesa Wedemeyer, UIHC eHealth + eNovation Center, 4.6.15

“Education is not

preparation for life;

education is life itself.” John Dewey, Modern Father of

Experiential Education

average birth year of 1st year medical students

Social Networking Site Use By Age Group, 2005-2013 % of Internet Users in Each Age Group Who Use Social Networking Sites

Popular Social Media Platforms

Physician Numbers Across Age Groups

Age < 30

12,047 1.4%

Physicians with an active license to practice medicine in the United States

and the District of Columbia, 2012

Source: Federation of State Medical Boards, Journal of Medical Regulation, 2013

Age 30 - 39

182,536 20.8%

Age 40 - 49 216,234

24.6%

Age 50 - 59

214,936 24.5%

Age 60 - 69 152,175

17.3%

Age 70 + 78,794 9.0%

Age: unknown 21,472 2.4%

Generational Attitudes, Communication

Preferences, and Technology Use

Infographic design: strathclyde-designs.co.uk/ Source for data used in the infographic: UN.org

Millennial Physicians Are …

• technophiles

• fast and multi-task

• on the internet a lot

• mobile

• looking for balance

• optimistic

• energetic

• the future

User Centered Design (UCD or UXD)

• Involves end users throughout the design process

and development of business systems

• Ensures that systems are fully usable and provide

an engaging and enjoyable user experience

Elements of Student-User Centered Design in Telemedicine Education

• Involve students in designing their own telemedicine training programs

• Create a program that gives students scaffolded, authentic experiences each year

• Meet with them at regular intervals to get feedback on

telemedicine implementations and telemedicine training programs

• Keep these programs flexible and agile to allow for iterative

development

• Encourage them to bring ideas for adjacent possible

innovation to your teams

ALYSON Hometown: Iowa City Population: 71, 500 Age: 23 Undergraduate Degree: University of Iowa Major: Microbiology Minor: Spanish, Chemistry, Biology Technology Comfort: 7 out of 10 Times a day do you use the internet for school related info: 10+/day How frequently do you interact with peers using social media? Many, many times a day What are your top social media sites? I’m weird, I only use Facebook Top three residencies/specialty choices: Pediatric Immunology, Geneticist, Sports Medicine Where do you see yourself practicing in 15 years: I would like to be in a large academic center in an urban setting, focus on clinical practice and teaching. What interests you about telemedicine? Telemedicine seems like a no-brainer to me. There are so many problems with lack of providers across the US, but especially in more rural states, and I feel like we should do everything we can to make that less of a problem. In reality, recruiting enough people to practice in those areas is not going to happen, and I think this is the next best thing. I think that we as a country need to push primary care and the importance of it. A lot of the reason that people do not access primary care is because of the time commitment/travel/having to go to the doctor. I think that this is a great way to reach some of those people that otherwise would not be going to a doctor. What do you feel is the main limitation of telemedicine right now? Support—specifically from lawmakers/insurance companies and from physicians. A lot of the physicians that are in the areas that could benefit from telemedicine are older. We all know that generally speaking, it is more difficult for older people to fully embrace new technology, and I think that that is probably a difficult obstacle to overcome and may just come with time or having students/residents come to that site for rotations and help them.

NICK NICK Hometown: St. Joe, Iowa Hometown Population: 61 Age: 24 Undergraduate Degree: Iowa State University Major: Chemical Engineering Technology Comfort: 10 out of 10 Times a day do you use the internet for school related info: ~50 How frequently do you interact with peers using social media? 5x/day What are your top social media sites? Facebook Top three residencies/specialty choices: Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine Where do you see yourself practicing in 15 years: In a town with population of 2,500 - 8,000 people. What interests you about telemedicine? The opportunity to combine big data applications and medicine in a unique way to solve a problem I've seen first hand worsen throughout my life. What do you feel is the main limitation of telemedicine right now? Awareness; doctors and society as a whole don't fully appreciate the problem facing rural areas. Education efforts are needed to help bring this topic up as a truly innovative way to solve a real problem.

Students: Telemedicine Super Users

Roles of Students

• Ambassadors

• Teachers

• Champions

• Collaborators

• Innovators

Who Are “Students”?

• Medical students

• Nursing students

• Physician assistant students

• Respiratory therapy students

• Physical therapy students

• MHA and MBA students

“If we teach today’s students as

we taught yesterday’s, we rob

them of tomorrow.”

— John Dewey