Profile and Motivation of Women Enrolled in the Brazilian Telemedicine and Telehealth Postgraduation Distance Education Programme

Purpose:  Women’s participation in Telehealth is increasing around the world and they should be prepared to work in this new job market. The aim of this study was to evaluate the profile and motivation of women enrolled in the Brazilian Postgraduate Programme on Telemedicine and Telehealth. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May to July 2018 of all women enrolled in the postgraduate programme using an anonymous online Google form. It consisted of a multiple choice form regarding: age, number of children, profession, date of graduation, current occupation, current number of jobs, workload, postgraduate programmes completed,  duration of Telehealth experience  and motivation to enrol on the Programme.  Data collected were exported to an Excel® sheet, summarised and analysed. Results: Of 44 women, 36 completed the survey. Mean age and time passed since graduation were respectively 43.5±13.5 years and 18±17 years for student and 53±13.5 years and 31.5±8.5 for professors; 25 women have at least one child, work more than 30 hours weekly and 10 of them work in two jobs.  Health professionals and health occupations were predominant in both groups. Most students had little or no experience in Telehealth.  The decreasing order of frequency motivation was professional refinement (63.8%), job opportunity (55.5%), financial gain (52.7%) and innovation (38.8%). Conclusion: Regardless of age, children, workload and professional qualification, the major women's motivation for enrolling in the Telehealth Postgraduate Programme is to professional refinement in this field

Predicting Medical Students’ Intention to Integrate Digital Health into their Medical Practice: A Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Survey in Canada

In recent years, many stakeholders have advocated digital health (dHealth) as a promising avenue to reduce inefficiencies, increase the accessibility and quality of care, and manage infectious diseases. In this context, an emerging issue for researchers and practitioners lies in the dHealth education and training that must be provided to medical students to prepare them to make effective use of dHealth technologies, and of artificial intelligence (AI) in particular, in their future medical practice. In addressing this issue, this paper aims to validate a theoretical model that hypothesizes relationships between medical students’ individual background, experimentation with dHealth, perceived dHealth education needs, and openness to AI-related innovations. To do so, a two-phased survey study of Canadian medical students was realized. Results confirming all but one of the research hypotheses thus constitute a valid basis for prediction and prescription with regard to the students’ integration of dHealth into their medical practice