Teaching medical students online consultation: reframing the doctor-patient exchange

After qualifying, doctors are expected to refine and develop professional knowledge and competences with a greater emphasis on the communication and consultation skills needed to create and maintain a good doctor-patient relationship. The ‘doctorability’, which is the act of legitimating the patient’s decision to seek medical care during the doctor-patient exchange, has been first studied by Heritage and Maynard (2006). However, the concept has been adapted to the new frames offered by the digital context and, as such, Stommel (2010) talks about the ‘forumability’, which refers to the users’ negotiations and legitimization within the group contributing to health fora. Using Digital Discours…