JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

In recent years there has been a tremendous increase in the use of digital technology in the education of healthcare professionals stimulated, at least in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic. However there remains the need for targeted research to provide the evidence for its efficacy.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to define the gaps in the evidence for the efficacy of digital education and to identify priority areas where future research has the potential to contribute to our understanding and use of digital education.

Methods:

We used a two-stage approach to identify research priorities. Firstly, a systematic scoping review of the recent literature (published between 2020 and 2023) was performed to identify and build on existing work. Secondly, expert consensus on the priority research questions was obtained using a modified Delphi method.

Results:

A total of 8857 potentially relevant papers were identified. Using PRISMA methodology we included 217 papers for full review. All papers were either systematic reviews or meta-analyses. A total of 151 research recommendations were extracted from the 217 papers. These were analysed, re-categorised and consolidated to create a final list of 63 questions. From these a modified Delphi process with 42 experts was used to produce the top-five rated research priorities. (Overall sum of scores in parentheses) How do we measure the learning transfer from digital education into the clinical setting? (47) How might we optimise the use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine and deep learning to facilitate education and training? (38) What are the methodological requirements for high-quality rigorous studies assessing the outcomes of digital health education? (32) How does the design of digital education (e.g. format and modality used) in health professionals' education and training curriculum affect learning outcomes? (31) How should learning outcomes in the field of digital health professionals’ education be defined and standardised? (30)

Conclusions:

This review provides a prioritised list of research gaps in digital education in healthcare education, which will be of use to researchers, educators/education providers and funding agencies. Further proposals are discussed for the next steps needed to move this agenda forward, to help bring meaningful and practical research into the use of digital technologies and to drive excellence in healthcare education.