The virtual home visit

ABSTRACT

Previous research has identified the ‘unique experience’ of home visits for medical students, yet in-training health professionals’ exposure to them is limited and there is not a structured method of performing them. It is already recognised that simulation prior to clinical experience improves knowledge and confidence with the additional benefit that the experience can be standardised. We ran a ‘Virtual Home Visit’ for falls assessment for third year medical students as part of their teaching on multidisciplinary team (MDT) working. Students considered a clinical scenario involving a lady who had fallen at home and fractured the wrist of her dominant hand. They then watched a short video of her home, where each room was filmed in turned. They were then asked to identify both falls risks and possible adaptations. The session was co-facilitated by a GP Educator and an Occupational Therapist. The students enjoyed the session and performed well in a related OSCE assessment. The technology required was minimal to run the session. The facilitators also recognised the potential to use such a session in an interprofessional education environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Undergraduate education
• virtual learning
• simulation
• home visits
• primary care
• community-based medical education

Acknowledgment

With thanks to Stef Tribe, Occupational Therapist, who undertook the original filming.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.