Telesimulation as a method of clinical teaching in undergraduate students of surgery. A qualitative evaluation of a pilot experience

Abstract

Background: The current COVID-19 pandemic poses additional challenges to clinical teaching by affecting the normal development of onsite activities. Solutions are necessary to mitigate these effects.
Objective: The aim of this study is to present a telesimulation (TS strategy) and analyze the instructional design perspective of undergraduate students of surgery.
Material and methods: Twenty-six students participated in the experience, immersed in high-fidelity virtual scenarios through a video conference platform in which they could experience and analyze critical situations and decide a therapeutic plan. Data analysis was carried out using a quantitativequalitative approach, focusing on the participants’ experiences reported in a satisfaction survey, debriefing transcriptions (reflective stage) and an open-ended question about the perception of learning aimed at analyzing the activity in terms of the opportunities to learn clinical reasoning, nontechnical skills and the attributes of the method as perceived by the students.
Results: All the students would recommend the activity to another peer. During debriefing, the aspects of performance related with the diagnostic hypothesis, complementary investigation, treatment and non-technical skills emerge. Furthermore, there was a perception of learning beyond that offered by content reading.
Conclusion: Telesimulation as a learning opportunity favors clinical teaching. Although TS can achieve high fidelity as a technique, it cannot neglect the technical and technological aspects that would alter its course.