As the conflict engulfing the Middle East complicates clinical instruction for medical students at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, medical education leadership in New York has rapidly launched telehealth electives to help students in Doha complete their education.
Dr. Joseph Safdieh. Credit: John Abbott
Eight New York-based clinical rotations in emergency medicine, radiology, neurology, psychiatry, and obstetrics and gynecology opened March 16 to students who, because of broader regional instability and travel disruption, are unable to participate in person. The live, two-week-long courses will enable students, especially fourth-year students who are set to graduate in May, to meet their educational requirements.
“Weill Cornell Medicine in New York is very committed to helping our counterparts in Qatar ensure that their students can meet the requirements of the curriculum,” said Dr. Joseph Safdieh, the Richard P. Cohen Senior Associate Dean for Education at Weill Cornell Medicine. “We are grateful to the department chairs, course directors and the Office of the Registrar for mobilizing in just three or four days.”
There are currently 13 registrations—a number Dr. Safdieh expects will increase. Without these electives, several fourth-year students would have been at risk for not meeting graduation requirements.
Dr. Thurayya Arayssi
“Our ability to transition swiftly and seamlessly to remote learning across clinical domains while maintaining our high standards of education speaks to the strength and resilience of the Cornell system,” said Dr. Thurayya Arayssi, vice dean of academic and curricular affairs at WCM-Q. “Through the dedication and rapid collaboration of the New York and Qatar teams, to whom I am deeply grateful, we ensured academic continuity and support for our students during challenging times.”
Early in the conflict, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, following shelter-in-place guidance from the Qatari government, transitioned into remote work and learning. While the campus is gradually re-opening, there continues to be a need for remote learning options in the clinical domains, Dr. Safdieh said. To accomplish this, the medical education team revived their educational strategy from six years ago, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Learning from the Past
By the pandemic’s height, Weill Cornell Medicine had rapidly implemented 19 telehealth electives, a process Dr. Safdieh and his colleagues documented in an April 2021 paper published in Medical Education Online. The paper, “Curricular response to COVID-19: real-time interactive telehealth experience (RITE) program,” noted that the courses were well-received, with students praising the program’s ability to harness telehealth for direct patient care activities.
However, only four of those courses remained operational in the years since. Given Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar’s urgent need, New York curriculum teams reactivated eight dormant courses and expanded capacity in two pre-existing courses in less than a week, offering a total of 12 telehealth electives.
“Radiology opened up a very large number of spots in a telehealth radiology elective, increasing capacity, as did emergency medicine,” he said. “OBGYN and neurology came through as well.”
The two-week classes can be stacked so that students can take as many as they need, especially for those who are set to graduate in May. Each of the telehealth classes is live and include participation in video visits with patients.
Medical students may take patient history or assist with counseling and learn the nuances that come along with telehealth visits. Direct patient contact is crucial to the success of students, Dr. Safdieh said. The students will also work with instructors. For example, during a radiology elective, students will view imaging in real time, with instructors asking them to assess and give feedback on what they are seeing on the screen.
Due to the seven-hour time difference, the Weill Cornell Medicine course instructors intentionally scheduled the telehealth electives earlier in the day. Students will be able to interact with patients and educators while they are still fresh rather than having to log on late at the night, Dr. Safdieh said.
“The lesson we learned with COVID is that the more interactivity and engagement the students had during the elective, the more they enjoy the elective and the more they felt they learned,” he added.
“The telehealth electives are essential for medical students unable to physically access clinical spaces in the United States, enabling them to continue their training remotely while building critical skills as future physicians,” Dr. Arayssi said. “This experience is another, among many, that reflects the strength and resilience of our Cornell community and reaffirms our dedication to training physicians of the highest caliber through innovation and collaboration, even in times of conflict. We are truly thankful for the continued support of our colleagues in New York and at Qatar Foundation.”
Finding a Silver Lining
The pivot to virtual learning comes with a potential silver lining for students and the patients they will see. Today, nearly three-quarters of all physicians are offering telehealth options weekly, according to the American Medical Association. Neurology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, family and general medicine, and urology practices are most likely to offer the services, according to the AMA report. With Medicare telehealth coverage renewed through 2027 and nearly 60% of private insurance companies paying for telehealth visits, this trend is expected to continue.
It’s exactly for this reason, said Dr. Safdieh, that the Doha students will benefit from interacting with patients virtually. Although all Weill Cornell Medicine students learn telehealth skills, the two-week intensive courses may boost learning even more rapidly.
“One of the unintended benefits of this might be that some of these students will actually enhance their skills in telehealth, which will serve them in their practice,” he said. “While telehealth isn’t as large a percentage of a doctor’s practice as it was five years ago, it’s far more than it was before COVID.”
