SynthesisMedical education online2019
Does online learning work better than offline learning in undergraduate medical education? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Medical education online, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 272 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Perceptions of Undergraduate Students and Teaching Staff on Online Teaching and Learning in the Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic in an Egyptian Private University: A Cross-Sectional Study
Evaluating TESLA-G, a Gamified, Telegram-delivered, Quizzing Platform for Surgical Education in Medical Students: a Protocol for a Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial
Who cites it
272 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effectiveness of Balint groups at improving empathy in medical and nursing education: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC medical education · 2024Pooled it
- Global prevalence of anxiety and depression among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2024Pooled it
- Brain activation of the PFC during dual-task walking in stroke patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of functional near-infrared spectroscopy studies.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Application of digital education in undergraduate nursing and medical interns during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review.Nurse education today · 2022Pooled it
- Does an instructional video as a stand-alone tool promote the acquisition of practical clinical skills? A randomised simulation research trial of skills acquisition and short-term retention.BMC medical education · 2024Trial
- Comparative effectiveness study of flipped classroom versus online-only instruction of clinical reasoning for medical students.Medical education online · 2023Trial
- Trial
- The Use of Blended Teaching in Higher Medical Education during the Pandemic Era.International journal of clinical practice · 2022Trial
- Initial word tests contribute to effective human anatomy education.Anatomical sciences education · 2026Article
- Prevalence of Digital Eye Strain Symptoms Among Sudanese Medical Students During Conflict-Induced Online Learning: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Synchronous Remote Teaching for Neurological Examination Training in Fifth-Year Medical Students: Quasi-Experimental Study.JMIR medical education · 2026Article
- Perception of medical students towards virtual learning of pathology courses at the college of medicine, University of Bahri, 2022.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Pharmacy students' use of e-learning resources: a repeated cross-sectional study in 2021 and 2026.BMC research notes · 2026Article
- Device Access, Gender, and Academic Year Influence E-Learning Patterns in Indian Medical Education.Cureus · 2026Article
- In-Person vs. Virtual: A Comparative Study of Teaching Methods in Nutritional Medicine.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Digital learning effectiveness and strategies in medical training: perspectives on motivation and attitude among interns and PGY trainees.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Clustering of students in pre-clinical medical education and identification of academic performance profiles: does online education work for all medical students?BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Effect of a Multimedia-Assisted Microteaching Program on Oral Health Knowledge, Behavior, and Oral Hygiene Status Among Indonesian Elementary School Children: A Mixed-Methods Study.Dentistry journal · 2026Article
- Games as homework to promote student engagement in an asynchronous online course.Canadian journal of dental hygiene : CJDH = Journal canadien de l'hygiene dentaire : JCHD · 2026Article
- FamuPlus - a pilot project to support self-oriented learning through self-created learning outcomes in clinical electives.GMS journal for medical education · 2026Article
212 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
With the increasing use of technology in education, online learning has become a common teaching method. How effective online learning is for undergraduate medical education remains unknown. This article's aim is to evaluate whether online learning when compared to offline learning can improve learning outcomes of undergraduate medical students. Five databases and four key journals of medical education were searched using 10 terms and their Boolean combinations during 2000-2017. The extracted articles on undergraduates' knowledge and skill outcomes were synthesized using a random effects model for the meta-analysis.16 out of 3,700 published articles were identified. The meta-analyses affirmed a statistically significant difference between online and offline learning for knowledge and skill outcomes based on post-test scores (SMD = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.43, 1.20; p < 0.0001; n = 15). The only comparison result based on retention test scores was also statistically significant (SMD = 4.64; 95% CI: 3.19, 6.09; p < 0.00001). The meta-analyses discovered no significant difference when using pre- and post-test score gains (SMD = 3.03; 95% CI: -0.13, 4.13; p = 0.07; n = 3). There is no evidence that offline learning works better. And compared to offline learning, online learning has advantages to enhance undergraduates' knowledge and skills, therefore, can be considered as a potential method in undergraduate medical teaching.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.