TY  - JOUR
AU  - Cerqueira-Silva, Thiago
AU  - Carreiro, Roberto
AU  - Nunes, Victor
AU  - Passos, Louran
AU  - Canedo, Bernardo F
AU  - Andrade, Sofia
AU  - Ramos, Pablo Ivan P
AU  - Khouri, Ricardo
AU  - Santos, Carolina Barbosa Souza
AU  - Nascimento, Jedson Dos Santos
AU  - Paste, Aurea Angélica
AU  - Paiva Filho, Ivan De Mattos
AU  - Santini-Oliveira, Marília
AU  - Cruz, Álvaro
AU  - Barral-Netto, Manoel
AU  - Boaventura, Viviane
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/3/4
TI  - Bridging Learning in Medicine and Citizenship During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Telehealth-Based Case Study
JO  - JMIR Public Health Surveill
SP  - e24795
VL  - 7
IS  - 3
KW  - medical education
KW  - surveillance
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - education
KW  - telehealth
KW  - training
KW  - impact
KW  - medical student
KW  - triage
KW  - epidemiology
KW  - monitoring
AB  - Background: COVID-19 presented great challenges for not only those in the field of health care but also those undergoing medical training. The burden on health care services worldwide has limited the educational opportunities available for medical students due to social distancing requirements. Objective: In this paper, we describe a strategy that combines telehealth and medical training to mitigate the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A toll-free telescreening service, Telecoronavirus, began operations in March 2020. This service was operated remotely by supervised medical students and was offered across all 417 municipalities (14.8 million inhabitants) in the Brazilian state of Bahia. Students recorded clinical and sociodemographic data by using a web-based application that was simultaneously accessed by medical volunteers for supervision purposes, as well as by state health authorities who conducted epidemiological surveillance and health management efforts. In parallel, students received up-to-date scientific information about COVID-19 via short educational videos prepared by professors. A continuously updated triage algorithm was conceived to provide consistent service. Results: The program operated for approximately 4 months, engaging 1396 medical students and 133 physicians. In total, 111,965 individuals residing in 343 municipalities used this service. Almost 70,000 individuals were advised to stay at home, and they received guidance to avoid disease transmission, potentially contributing to localized reductions in the spread of COVID-19. Additionally, the program promoted citizenship education for medical students, who were engaged in a real-life opportunity to fight the pandemic within their own communities. The objectives of the education, organization, and assistance domains of the Telecoronavirus program were successfully achieved according to the results of a web-based post-project survey that assessed physicians’ and students’ perceptions. Conclusions: In a prolonged pandemic scenario, a combination of remote tools and medical supervision via telehealth services may constitute a useful strategy for maintaining social distancing measures while preserving some practical aspects of medical education. A low-cost tool such as the Telecoronavirus program could be especially valuable in resource-limited health care scenarios, in addition to offering support for epidemiological surveillance actions. 
SN  - 2369-2960
UR  - https://publichealth.jmir.org/2021/3/e24795
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/24795
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33630746
DO  - 10.2196/24795
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/24795
ER  -