The advancement of telemedicine in Brazil and around the world has led TopMed, a national reference in telemedicine and telehealth for the public and private sectors, to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge related to this resource. Last Thursday (12/01), the Santa Catarina-based company celebrated the conclusion of the curricular internship activities “Medical Clinic: Telemedicine Service Model”, aimed at students in the final year of medical school at Unisul. They were the first group of students from Santa Catarina to undertake a Telemedicine internship in the state.

The initiative is the result of a partnership between the company and the educational institution, signed in July. With the agreement, TopMed shares with future doctors all its experience acquired in 16 years of digital activity, marked by effective solutions in care, health and assistance.

“Teleconsultation is already regulated in Brazil as one of the telemedicine service models. And it is an excellent option for safe and quality medical care to promote access to healthcare. We are contributing to training professionals capable of using technology to prevent and combat diseases, as well as maintain the quality of life and promote the well-being of their patients,” says Renata Zobaran, Director of Telemedicine and Digital Health at TopMed.

The internship lasted three weeks, totaling 120 hours of activities, and was offered entirely remotely, on TopMed's own platforms. Based on a participatory pedagogical proposal, the training, divided into theoretical and practical modules, covered topics such as the history of telehealth and telemedicine in Brazil and worldwide, bioethics and safety, connectivity and tools for telemedicine platforms, telepropaedeutics, electronic prescription, among others.

The interns followed TopMed's teleconsultation schedule with the company's preceptor doctors and also provided care, always under supervision. All of this was possible thanks to the development of a teleconsultation platform specifically for preceptorship, where the preceptor doctor can work with several interns on different video screens, and can give or take commands from the student, such as filling out medical records and audio, for example.

The internship had the active participation of supervising doctors Cristina Broilo and Nathalia Domingues, as well as Health Data Analyst Mirela Christmann, all from the TopMed team. Extensive discussions of clinical cases were held, with the participation of other professionals, representing the multidisciplinary team of TopMed – nurse, nutritionist, psychologist and social worker.

“We use a teaching methodology called 'learning path', which through different activities, provides interns with broad knowledge on the topics, with flexibility to choose the path to follow to access the content, strengthening the autonomy of the learning process”, explains Renata.

Julia Koerich, one of the students participating in the internship, highlights that “The process awakened the desire to enter this world of digital health, and discovering how telemedicine works was surprising.” Bruna Costa Lima, another student who completed the program, says that she was “certain that I want to work in this field, because it gives you a lot of opportunities and, although it is different from face-to-face work, it is no less effective. On the contrary, it brings many advantages for both the doctor and the patient.”

Telemedicine: Although it is not new, telemedicine has shown its effectiveness and assertiveness during the most critical period of the Covid-19 pandemic, when it was necessary to expand access and avoid crowds. The resource has proven to expand the reach of medical care to people who live far from medical centers and clinics, thus demonstrating that digital technologies with high standards of safety and ethics can contribute to improving the health of the population.

According to research by Opinion Box, a Brazilian company specializing in interpreting consumer behavior, 37% of those interviewed had a medical consultation or appointment during the pandemic. Of this number, 47% had a routine consultation, 37% accessed the resource due to a medical emergency, and 35% continued a treatment they were already undergoing. The survey also sought to identify the rate of use of telemedicine when the WHO (World Health Organization) declares the end of the pandemic, and 43% argue that the resource will be used more than before.

Another piece of data that brings optimism to the digital health horizon was presented by the American market research company eMarketer, in April 2020. According to the company, the telemedicine industry generated 45.5 billion dollars worldwide in 2019, and this number is projected to jump to 175.5 billion by 2026.