Preparing Tomorrow's Clinicians with TeleOralHealth

Abstract

The TeleOralHealth instructional modules are a set of four interactive digital resources for teaching and learning about TeleOralHealth. They were created using an open-source elearning authoring tool and are editable by educators in Ontario and beyond under the conditions of the Ontario Commons License.

About TeleOralHealth: TeleOralHealth is the delivery of oral healthcare (in real-time or asynchronously) by a clinician or other professional to a patient at a distance. Three primary rationales for its use relate to a changing clinical landscape, focusing on patient centered care; increasing access both geographically and in turbulent contexts; and enabling flexible workflow and efficiency. The learning materials focus on patient-centered care in technology mediated interactions. Each module highlights the use of communication strategies and techniques and demonstrates these through “how to” instructional and scenario videos. The content and videos focus on their application focus on patient clinician interactions.

Given the changing landscape of oral healthcare practices, places, and environments, we must prepare our students for the future. While TeleOralHealth is a relatively new branch of TeleMedicine, given the increasing demand for alternative delivery of care models, TeleOralHealth is likely to become a commonplace practice for future oral healthcare providers. These modules serve as a starting place for students and professionals to review best practices, check their understanding, and analyse simulated patient-provider scenarios.