Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Medical Education
Date Submitted: Aug 12, 2024
Date Accepted: Oct 7, 2025
Barriers and Enablers to the Production of Open Access Medical Education Platforms: A Scoping Review
ABSTRACT
Background:
Free open access medical education has the potential to democratise access to medical knowledge globally, however this potential has not yet been achieved, particularly in low-resource settings. Content is increasingly being consolidated on a smaller number of platforms, each containing larger amounts of content, compiled from multiple sources.
Objective:
This review aims to identify and synthesise from the literature the barriers and enablers to the successful design, production, and operation of open access medical education platforms, to inform efforts to optimize the impact and reach of open access medical education resources.
Methods:
A literature search was conducted in PubMed and EBSCOhost databases, with snowball sampling also employed to identify further relevant studies. Screening and data extraction were conducted by two reviewers independently with discrepancies adjudicated by a third reviewer.
Results:
1,108 studies were screened, and 34 studies included. The most commonly reported barriers were concerns around quality control, incomplete or unstructured content, and the resources required to sustain open access resources over the long-term. The most frequently reported enablers were the use of a validated tool to rate the quality of online resources, and collaboration with existing content providers and platforms to increase learner awareness of resources. Themes were chosen to make explicit which actions can be taken by which stakeholder groups in order to overcome the barriers identified: “learners and training programmes”, “content designers and creators”, and ”platform managers”.
Conclusions:
Open-access medical education platforms have the potential to add significantly more value to medical education worldwide than is currently the case. However challenges related to content quality, content organisation and the sustainability of the platforms themselves, are preventing them from achieving their potential. Enablers identified suggest the need for greater coordination and collaboration on a global scale than has heretofore occurred.
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