Challenges and Lessons From a Student Initiative on Medical Technology Literacy

Abstract

To the Editor: Integrating health care technology literacy into undergraduate medical education is a growing topic of discussion. 1 At a minimum, an increasingly “triadic relationship” between physicians, patients, and computers requires providers to build a vocabulary that effectively communicates the implications of new developments to patients. 2 As second-year medical students, we rose to this challenge by introducing an elective course at our institution, promoting intersections of technology with health care. During this process, we identified the following 3 challenges: 1. Broad scope of emergent technology: The impact of technology in medicine is multifaceted. We found it challenging to screen topics and present them in a format applicable to all medical students. Some topics, like digital health, have broad fundamentals defining how they work and how they may impact numerous fields. Others, like tissue engineering and machine learning, may have more targeted impacts at specific specialties. Close evaluation of topics must be performed to differentiate what is suitable for preclinical medical education and what is a better fit for residency training. 2. Limited centralized guidance: Curricular development should be a product of collaboration between physicians, engineers, educators, and other stakeholders. Students lack the clinical expertise to appreciate which level of proficiency should be provided in training, given the partly speculative nature of defining upcoming technological impact. A national conversation to promote consensus teaching points can offer a centralized framework for schools and programs to develop their own initiatives. 3. Difficulty facilitating hands-on learning in virtual environments: The advent of virtual learning due to COVID-19 disrupted 2 key approaches of our elective: (1) hands-on skill building workshops and (2) longitudinal “innovation” projects that involved interdisciplinary collaboration. Active learning and teamwork can be diluted by virtual environments and “Zoom fatigue.” However, considering that medical education and patient care will retain virtual elements postpandemic, perhaps both can draw lessons from each other to facilitate better outcomes. Although student initiatives can provide a foundation, more formalized school-wide or nation-wide efforts can help address the highlighted challenges and drive more impactful changes. The rapid acceleration of digital health uptake due to COVID-19 demonstrates why deeper integration of medical technology is an educational imperative.

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