The Grand Forks-based University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences added telehealth capabilities to its medical education curriculum, according to a Feb. 14 American Medical Association blog post.
The university developed a patient simulation activity called the Remotely Operated Biomedical Telepresence Systems, which consists of three scenarios. Teams comprised of trainees from up to five medical disciplines work on these cases, with one team member participating in the scenario via video conferencing.
The goal of the program is to acknowledge geographic barriers to care coordination in Nebraska, so students become accustomed to remote care technologies. Based on the success of the program thus far, the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences is considering adding telehealth capabilities to all of its simulation scenarios.
The University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences is one of 32 institutions under the AMA's Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium. The AMA provided grants to these institutions, under which they are tasked with creating the "medical school of the future" by developing innovative practices for physician training.