Telemedicine access and higher educational attainment

Taylor Francis Online

Adam Hollowell 

March 24, 2021

What role should telemedicine services play in a higher education landscape that increasingly embraces online education? How prominently should telemedicine feature in the suite of wraparound services that schools prioritize for vulnerable students? While many studies interrogate single-factor health issues and college success, this essay argues that significant research is needed to close knowledge gaps in understanding the relationship between telemedicine access and higher educational attainment.

Prior to the pandemic, twenty-one million college and university students depended on campus-based student health and counseling services as their primary healthcare provider.1 By April 2020 over 1,000 college and university campuses in the United States closed and over 14 million students transitioned to online learning due to COVID-19.2 The radical shift to online learning in higher education in 2020 was accompanied by a shift to online student support services.3

What role should telemedicine services play in a higher education landscape that increasingly embraces online education? How prominently should telemedicine feature in the suite of wraparound services that schools prioritize for vulnerable students? Can telemedicine serve students at community colleges and other schools that traditionally lack the resources to offer student health services? While many studies interrogate single-factor health issues and college success, this essay argues that significant research is needed to close knowledge gaps in understanding the relationship between telemedicine access and higher educational attainment.

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