Dr Richard Darnton discusses his latest research, published in Medical Teacher, January 2023. UK medical students spend much of their training based in primary care centres undertaking consultations with patients under the watchful eye of a supervising doctor. The advent of COVID-19 triggered a huge increase in the proportion of doctor-patient consultations occurring remotely (via […]
Medical education: making the most of remote consulting in primary care
The rapid expansion of remote consulting in primary care, after the pandemic struck in the UK in 2020, changed the experience of medical education, both for the GP tutors and for medical students in primary care placements. What can be done to protect and enhance the educational value of primary care placements in the post-COVID […]
“Perfect for some but disastrous for others”: Patients and clinicians express concerns over phone and video consultations
A research study of rheumatology patients and clinicians has found that while the majority found phone or video consultations more convenient than face-to-face consultations, they viewed so-called telemedicine as less diagnostically accurate than in-person consultations and as having the potential to increase health inequalities and barriers to accessing appropriate care. A key finding was that […]