Telemedicine: The art of innovative technology in family medicine

Abstract

Technology in medicine has been rapidly evolving over the past decade, greatly improving the quality and types of services providers can offer to patients. Physicians in training are eager to embrace these novel innovations, and medical school and residency educators strive to offer learning experiences of a high standard that are relevant. One example of an emerging healthcare innovation is telemedicine, which permits the provision of medical care to patients away from clinics and hospitals, bringing patient-centered care to the patient. It has proven to be cost-effective, improve health outcomes, and enhance patient satisfaction. This article describes the development and structure of our family medicine residency program’s telemedicine curriculum, first created in 2016 in response to the growing demand for this type of healthcare delivery model. There is discussion about the history of telemedicine, and about what contributed to its growth. A timeline of the steps taken to create our new telemedicine residency curriculum is reviewed, along with the key components that contributed to its success. The Lessons Learned section provides other educators insight into the strengths and opportunities revealed during the creation of the curriculum, and guidance on how the curriculum could be further enhanced.