Starting Jan. 21, in partnership with the U.S. Army, the NSU Center for Academic & Professional Success (CAPS), NSU Veterans Resource Center (VRC), Halmos College of Arts & Sciences and the Dr. Kiran Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, NSU will host a virtual Telehealth case competition for undergraduate students this semester.
Telehealth is the delivery of health-related services and information via electronic or telecommunication technology. This allows for long-distance patient and clinician care and communication. Through this case competition, students have the opportunity to use critical thinking strategies to assess and treat patient actors via a Telehealth platform.
“This [case competition] will be beneficial to students and help bring some creativity to the Telehealth Industry. It is a huge industry that has the potential to grow. By helping students get involved early in their career, it can potentially reinvent the way that we do medicine,” said Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Allen, healthcare recruiter and workshop lecturer.
Students who participate in this competition will earn one ExEL Unit and the chance to win a $400 gift card awarded to the winning team. In teams of three to five students, participants will learn through a series of workshops the best-practice methods, skills and knowledge needed to treat patients in a virtual space. They will also be expected to develop a research paper on Telehealth and provide recommendations for the future of the industry.
“Through these case competitions, especially on the Pre-health side, we help students immerse themselves in healthcare knowledge and trends within the field. Due to COVID-19, Telehealth has been evergrowing. The main focus of the competition is the research paper that dives into Telehealth and how it will be incorporated into other avenues of healthcare and what the future will look like in this interdisciplinary industry,” explained Emilio Lorenzo, associate director of Employer Relations for CAPS.
These workshops, titled “Writing SOAP (Subject, Objective, Assessment and Plan) Notes for Telehealth Patients,” “Resiliency Course” and “Dealing with a Difficult Patient in the Virtual Space” will focus on the overall trends in the Telehealth industry, highlight important problem-solving skills and patient interaction procedures, all taught by U.S. Army medical professionals.
According to Allen, the military has always been at the forefront of the medical field and through workshops focused on topics, like SOAP notes, it offers students a different perspective to what they will learn when they enter the healthcare field in terms of procedure and shows that something like SOAP notes is not just limited to the military and allows students to look at healthcare through a different lens.
“Programs such as the case competitions help spread the U.S. Army’s message and help people overcome preconceived stigmas of the military. It helps us provide individuals with program information and opportunities that are available through the U.S. Army in the medical field. One program we offer is our Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), which provides 100% tuition coverage and a monthly stipend for recipients enrolled in medical, dental and other medical professional schools. We would like to see this case competition program grow and continue and we hope to enrich our relationship with NSU in the future,” said Allen.
Students interested in participating in this competition are encouraged to register through Handshake for the virtual information session on Thursday, Jan. 21 from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Students who have questions about this or future case competitions should email casecompetitions@nova.edu for more information.
Students interested in learning more about the U.S. Army medical programs can visit Miami Army Med on Facebook.
