Perceptions of pharmacy trainees completing a clinical experience in an HIV telemedicine clinic at an urban academic medical center

Objective To describe the implementation of a pharmacy practice site in an HIV/AIDS clinic that would increase trainees’ awareness of the application of telemedicine. Educational activity A description of an HIV/AIDS clinical experience detailing necessary components to create, develop, and implement a clinical service and rotation site using telemedicine. A pre- and post-telemedicine questionnaire was administered to pharmacy trainees at the start and completion of their clinical experience at an urban academic medical center providing HIV care to a state correctional system. Educational activity—assessment Twenty-seven trainees participated and completed the voluntary questionnaire (100% response rate). Of those 27, 13 were students, 10 were residents, and 4 were fellows. At baseline, 4% of trainees reported being knowledgeable/very knowledgeable about telemedicine. Upon completion of the clinical experience, 96% of trainees considered themselves knowledgeable/very knowledgeable. At the conclusion of the clinical experience, many trainees reported that the quality of care provided by telemedicine was similar to an in-person visit but no trainee reported that the quality of care was better. Critical analysis of the educational activity At this time, telehealth technologies are increasing exponentially and it is essential to train pharmacy students, residents, and fellows on these emerging technologies. Although it may be a challenge to identify resources such as space, time, and financial resources to initiate telemedicine services, clinical practice sites utilizing telemedicine should involve trainees in providing these services in order to promote knowledge and understanding of this rising field of health care.