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Introducing Telepsychiatry to Medical Students with Simulated Patients: An Innovation by Necessity

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Introduction: The abrupt discontinuation of medical student-patient contact due to the covid-19 pandemic resulted in a rapid change to virtual teaching. Student education was restructured to include online cases, small group discussions, synchronous and asynchronous lectures, and modified problem-based learning and team-based learning sessions. However, the key focus of the clerkship experience, contact with patients, was missing. Process: The Psychiatry Clerkship directors have previously provided complex simulated encounters to students using video-taped encounters of physician-simulated patient interactions to teach and assess student note writing skills. This concept was adapted to a live encounter for individual students on the psychiatry clerkship. Students reviewed the patient chart, performed the encounter, provided an oral patient presentation to faculty, and wrote a patient note. Individualized feedback was provided for each step of the process. Outcomes: The process was well received by students and faculty and provided an opportunity to directly observe student skills despite distancing from direct patient care. The simulated patients had a very positive experience and appreciated the opportunity to advance their own skills while contributing to student's education. Discussion: Removing students from clinical sites stimulated the rapid development of a process to observe learners involved in patient encounters. These educational sessions allowed direct observation of skills required in the initial evaluation of a patient presenting to psychiatry for care.