[Fit for the Future: Development of a seminar on aspects of digitization of healthcare as a contribution of Medical Sociology].

INTRODUCTION

Topics regarding the digitization of the healthcare system are hardly being addressed during the undergraduate training of medical students, even though the promotion of skills in this area has been defined as a learning goal in the German National Competence-Based Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM) since 2015. At the same time, telemedicine as one part of digitization is becoming increasingly important in the public perception as a tool supplementing access to care. Therefore, the aim was to give medical students in the fourth pre-clinical semester a first insight into topics of telemedicine and other aspects of digitization in the healthcare sector as part of a seminar.

METHODS

On the basis of the existing literature, we developed the content and a didactic concept for the seminar "The doctor-patient relationship in the field of technological developments" in the Medical Sociology course for undergraduate medical students in their second year at the University of Lübeck. Inspired by Kirkpatrick's four-level model, the students were asked for topics they wished to cover regarding the digitization of healthcare and telemedicine at the start and their attitudes towards and experiences with telemedicine at the end of the seminar.

RESULTS

A total of 184 students from the fourth pre-clinical semester attended the seminar. The survey response rate was 32%. The topics most frequently requested by students were "Legal Framework", "Electronic Patient Record" and "Tele-consultation". 85% of the students rated the topic "digitization of healthcare" as highly relevant for their future profession. Also 85% of the students wished for easy-to-use telemedicine equipment. A third or more of the students reported considerable uncertainty about their ability to evaluate the benefits of health apps.

CONCLUSIONS

The contents of the seminar met the students' demands. In the future, topics relating to the digitization of the health system should be increasingly integrated into undergraduate training; also, the students' feeling uncertain about their ability to assess various telemedical applications should be addressed.