Do you believe telehealth is an effective form of healthcare delivery, specifically as it relates to surgery and surgical oncology patients?
While telehealth principles have been applied to patient care for years, it has come to the forefront recently. While it can be tricky for surgical cases, telemedicine makes sense for patients and providers in many other aspects of care. Your interviewers want their future Surgical Oncology fellows to have a positive outlook on telehealth and a vision for where it will go in their future as physicians in practice.
"Yes, I believe telemedicine has its place in surgical care, and I'd love to learn more about what your institution is doing among cancer patients. I imagine you have patients who travel great distances and are referred for their surgical needs. Virtual pre-op visits and only bringing patients onsite on the day of surgery makes sense from everyone's perspective. I saw this utilized over the last couple of years of my residency training."
Although telehealth has limitations, including the inability to do a physical exam and obtain vitals, it is a useful way to reach out to patients who otherwise would not be able to get care when needed. For this reason, any future Surgical Oncologist must embrace telehealth platforms while recognizing that they are not ideal. Your answer should provide the pros and cons of telehealth related to cancer care and any direct examples of its use you are familiar with from your time in General Surgery residency training.
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Anonymous Answer
It depends, I prefer to actually see the patient and to visit him especially before and immediately after the surgery. In the long follow-up period it is possible to afford a telehealth visit without missing things.
Jaymie's Feedback
Great answer! You demonstrate an understanding of the value of both in-person and virtual appointments and your opinion on when each is appropriate.
Anonymous Answer
In the correct situation, telehealth is an excellent resource and form of health care delivery. Often, patients are traveling extreme distances to review surveillance imaging results or for routine discussions that can safely be conducted virtually. As long as we book these patients appropriately, for example, a patient that does not require a physical examination based on the reason for the visit and clarify this in our documentation for future assessments it is a resource that can help both the patient and the health care system.
Jaymie's Feedback
Perfect! You demonstrated the ability to deem when telehealth is appropriate and when an in-person visit is needed.
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