LAUSR

This novel placement was an opportunity for students to experience critical care and emergency medicine whilst obtaining a new skill set in virtual care. Direct supervision from experienced health professionals allowed students to learn critical thinking and clinical reasoning by observing senior clinicians evaluate complex scenarios and make real-time decisions. Overcoming challenges due to virtual consulting as well as treating deteriorating patients in the setting of resource limitations (i.e. no on-site imaging) and coordinating retrieval logistics, was a unique educational experience. Many skills learnt will be transferable throughout a medical career such as increased familiarity with virtual health care technology and processes and would have been difficult to learn under certain constraints of traditional medical training. Students acknowledge reduced opportunity to practice procedural skills and the need to adopt virtual examination skills. However, as virtual medicine becomes fundamental for clinical practice, preparing medical students for virtual practice holds increasing importance. Medical students around the world can consider virtual electives as rich learning environments which have the potential to help them develop global perspectives in preparation for medical practice. Bridget Addis Kimberley Dean Madeline Setterfield Shannon Nott Amanda Hunter Emma Webster