Bridging the digital health gap: telemedicine readiness, confidence, and training needs among health profession students in the United Arab Emirates

Italian Journal of Medicine 2026 Open access

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Authors: Ellen Safadi, Gurulingappa I Herakal, Ashli Shaji, Aparnna Baburaj, Praveen Kumar Kandakurti, Murtada Fathelrahman, Ghazi Gasmalla Mohamed Ibrahim, Sara Mohammed Ali, Marwan Ismail
DOI: 10.4081/itjm.2026.2502
Cited by: 1

Abstract

Telemedicine has expanded since the COVID-19 pandemic, underscoring the need to equip future healthcare workers with digital health competencies. This cross-sectional study at Gulf Medical University, Ajman, UAE, evaluated telemedicine readiness among 1000 health profession students across nine academic programs (response rate 76.9%). Only 14.9% reported familiarity with telemedicine and 19.8% felt confident in its use, while 42.5% reported no familiarity and 33.5% lacked confidence. Although 74% engaged in self-directed learning, only 25% had received formal telemedicine education. Formally trained students were significantly more likely to pursue self-training (p=0.0125) and demonstrated higher confidence (p

Fields of Study & Subjects

Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation COVID-19 and Mental Health Dental Research and COVID-19

Publication details

Journal / source
Italian Journal of Medicine
Publisher
PAGEPress Publications
Volume
20
Issue
2
Publication date
10 June 2026
Language
EN