SynthesisBMC medical education2024
Digital learning of clinical skills and its impact on medical students' academic performance: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC medical education, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Identifying Behaviour Change Techniques in Cancer Nutrition Interventions and Their Implementation Contexts: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis to identify behavioural content and active ingredients of antimicrobial stewardship education and training interventions in hospital-based care settings.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2025Pooled it
- Teaching Acute Coronary Syndrome High-Risk ECG Interpretation and Clinical Decision-Making Through FOAMed Videos and Podcast Versus Print-Based Materials Among Emergency Care Providers: Randomized Controlled Mixed Methods Trial.JMIR medical education · 2026Trial
- E-Learning Modules Based on Bloom Taxonomy and the Miller Pyramid for First-Year Indian Medical Students: Randomized Controlled Study in Medical Education.JMIR human factors · 2026Trial
- Building a Mental Health-Ready Nursing Workforce: A Scoping Review of Preparatory Interventions.International journal of mental health nursing · 2026Article
- Effects of digital versus face-to-face peer support on clinical skills: a three-arm randomized trial.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Bridging the knowledge-practice gap in chronic disease management: tele-education in diabetes care training.Archives of endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- Artificial intelligence in medicine: a scoping review of the risk of deskilling and loss of expertise among physicians.ESMO real world data and digital oncology · 2026Review
- The assessment of clinical competence in medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.Irish journal of medical science · 2026Review
- Use of Digital Technology for Developing Communication Skills in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Medical Education: Scoping Review.JMIR medical education · 2026Article
- Digitalization and Gamification to Improve Pathology Education: The SIAPeC Quiz Experience.Pathologica · 2026Article
- Enhancing CAP Education with a multi-guideline knowledge graph: a mixed-methods study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Head-Mounted Cameras in Virtual Clinical Learning.The clinical teacher · 2026Article
- Integration of the Pirogov interactive anatomy table into anatomy teaching: A comparative study with cadaveric dissection.PloS one · 2026Article
- Value of blended teaching in graduate tobacco medicine training: A prospective intervention study.Tobacco induced diseases · 2026Article
- Using an Analog Multifunctional Model to Develop Cognitive Skills in Dental Implants.International journal of dentistry · 2026Article
- Critical thinking gamification in medical education.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Impact of Learner Autonomy on the Performance in Voluntary Online Cardiac Auscultation Courses: Prospective Self-Controlled Study.JMIR medical education · 2025Article
- Development of a digital peer-feedback tool for clinical skills training: a pilot study with second-year medical students.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Evaluation of the impact of an online introductory paediatric physical examination skills course on students' OSCE performance.BMC medical education · 2025Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the rapid development and implementation of digital methods for teaching clinical skills in medical education. This systematic review presents both the benefits, challenges, and effectiveness of this transition.
methodsA systematic search of six electronic databases (SCOPUS, Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC & Informit) was conducted on 1st October 2023 and updated on 1st April 2024 to identify peer- reviewed articles, from 2019 onwards, which used any type of digital tool (online or otherwise) to teach clinical skills to medical trainees (undergraduate or postgraduate) and were published in English language. The primary outcome synthesised was the reported effectiveness of these digital tools in the development of clinical skills. Risk of bias of included studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment With Diverse Studies (QuADS) tool.
resultsTwenty-seven studies involving 3,895 participants were eligible for inclusion in this review. The QuADS quality assessment scores ranged from 22 to 35, indicating medium quality and thirteen of the studies were randomized trials. Overall, digital teaching of clinical skills demonstrated improved or comparable outcomes to in-person teaching. There was a beneficial effect of digital learning tools on assessment outcomes, with meta-analysis showing a mean difference increase of 1.93 (95% CI 1.22 to 2.64), albeit with a high amount of statistical heterogeneity I2 97%, P < 0.001. Digital clinical skills teaching also resulted in improved student satisfaction scores in many situations and was also shown in one study to be cost effective.
conclusionTeaching of clinical skills using digital tools is an important alternative to the traditional format of face-to-face delivery, which is resource intensive and difficult to implement during a pandemic. This review demonstrates their potential efficacy in improving education outcomes, student satisfaction and potentially reducing costs. However, the integration of traditional and innovative digital teaching methods appeared to provide the most comprehensive learning experience. Future research could focus on longitudinal studies to assess the long-term impact and efficacy of different digital and blended learning modalities on the acquisition of clinical skills and professional competencies.
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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.