Digital education in health professions: the need for overarching evidence synthesis
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Synthesizing evidence from randomized controlled trials of digital health education poses some challenges. These include a lack of clear categorization of digital health education in the literature; constantly evolving concepts, pedagogies, or theories; and a multitude of methods, features, technologies, or delivery settings. The Digital Health Education Collaboration was established to evaluate the evidence on digital education in health professions; inform policymakers, educators, and students; and ultimately, change the way in which these professionals learn and are taught. The aim of this paper is to present the overarching methodology that we use to synthesize evidence across our digital health education reviews and to discuss challenges related to the process. For our research, we followed Cochrane recommendations for the conduct of systematic reviews; all reviews are reported according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidance. This included assembling experts in various digital health education fields; identifying gaps in the evidence base; formulating focused research questions, aims, and outcome measures; choosing appropriate search terms and databases; defining inclusion and exclusion criteria; running the searches jointly with librarians and information specialists; managing abstracts; retrieving full-text versions of papers; extracting and storing large datasets, critically appraising the quality of studies; analyzing data; discussing findings; drawing meaningful conclusions; and drafting research papers. The approach used for synthesizing evidence from digital health education trials is commonly regarded as the most rigorous benchmark for conducting systematic reviews. Although we acknowledge the presence of certain biases ingrained in the process, we have clearly highlighted and minimized those biases by strictly adhering to scientific rigor, methodological integrity, and standard operating procedures. This paper will be a valuable asset for researchers and methodologists undertaking systematic reviews in digital health education.
Date Issued
2019-02-14
Date Acceptance
2019-01-15
Citation
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2019, 21 (2)
ISSN
1438-8871
Publisher
JMIR Publications
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Volume
21
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
©Josip Car, Jan Carlstedt-Duke, Lorainne Tudor Car, Pawel Posadzki, Penny Whiting, Nabil Zary, Rifat Atun, Azeem Majeed,
James Campbell, Digital Health Education Collaboration. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research
(http://www.jmir.org), 14.02.2019. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete
bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information
must be included.
James Campbell, Digital Health Education Collaboration. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research
(http://www.jmir.org), 14.02.2019. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete
bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information
must be included.
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000458874500001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Health Care Sciences & Services
Medical Informatics
methods
education, medical
systematic reviews
evidence-based
education, distance
education, professional
MEDICAL-EDUCATION
SIMULATION
SKILLS
BIAS
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e12913
Date Publish Online
2019-02-14