Integrating digital health into medical curricula: A review of current practices and future directions
Paper Details
Integrating digital health into medical curricula: A review of current practices and future directions
Abstract
This literature review critically examines the integration of digital health education within medical school curricula. Despite advancements toward patient-centered care, a significant gap persists in adequately preparing future healthcare professionals for the digital age. Through a systematic analysis of recent literature, this review explores the current state of digital health education, revealing substantial deficiencies in content and literacy. Key benefits such as improved patient outcomes, healthcare delivery, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration are highlighted. Conversely, the review identifies major challenges, including faculty readiness, curricular integration, resource limitations, and resistance to change. Pedagogical strategies like blended learning, problem-based learning, simulation, and continuous feedback mechanisms are discussed as means to enhance digital health education. The review also addresses assessment methods and student perceptions, underscoring the need for hands-on experience and integration of digital health into clinical practice. Recommendations for future directions include developing partnerships with technology companies, creating standardized digital health competencies, and updating curricula to include ethical considerations of digital technologies. This comprehensive overview elucidates the importance of equipping medical students with digital competencies to navigate the evolving healthcare landscape effectively.
Aapro M, Bossi P, Dasari A, Fallowfield L, Gascón P, Geller M, Jordan K, Kim J, Martin K, Porzig S. 2020. Digital health for optimal supportive care in oncology: benefits, limits, and future perspectives. Support. Care Cancer 28, 4589–4612.
Alhur AA. 2023. Health Informatics Internship: What Are the Students Perceptions Regard Internship Effectiveness? Indones. J. Educ. Res. Rev. 6.
Alhur AA, Alhashash KA. 2022. Investigating Students’ Perceptions of Health Informatics Education: What Action Needs to Be Taken? Int. J. Educ. Teach. Soc. Sci. 2, 31–40.
Bhavnani SP. 2020. Digital health: opportunities and challenges to develop the next-generation technology-enabled models of cardiovascular care. Methodist DeBakey Cardiovasc. J. 16, 296.
Biggs JS, Willcocks A, Burger M, Makeham MA. 2019. Digital health benefits evaluation frameworks: building the evidence to support Australia’s National Digital Health Strategy. Med. J. Aust. 210, S9–S11.
Cancela J, Charlafti I, Colloud S, Wu C. 2021. Digital health in the era of personalized healthcare: opportunities and challenges for bringing research and patient care to a new level. Digit. Health, 7–31.
Car J, Carlstedt-Duke J, Tudor Car L, Posadzki P, Whiting P, Zary N, Atun R, Majeed A, Campbell J, Collaboration DHE. 2019. Digital education in health professions: the need for overarching evidence synthesis. J. Med. Internet Res. 21, e12913.
Evbuomwan O, Kanmodi KK, Nwafor NJ, Omoruyi E, Buowari DY. 2020. Incorporating “ICT” training into undergraduate medical curriculum: An online survey assessing the opinions of medical students. Med. J. Zambia 47, 215–222.
Hall AK, Chavarria E, Maneeratana V, Chaney BH, Bernhardt JM. 2012. Health benefits of digital videogames for older adults: A systematic review of the literature. Games Health Res. Dev. Clin. Appl. 1, 402–410.
Imison C, Castle-Clarke S, Watson R, Edwards N. 2016. Delivering the benefits of digital health care. Nuffield Trust London.
Lupton D. 2014. Critical perspectives on digital health technologies. Sociol. Compass 8, 1344–1359.
Machleid F, Kaczmarczyk R, Johann D, Balčiūnas J, Atienza-Carbonell B, von Maltzahn F, Mosch L. 2020. Perceptions of digital health education among European medical students: mixed methods survey. J. Med. Internet Res. 22, e19827.
O’Brien BC, Forrest K, Wijnen-Meijer M, ten Cate O. 2018. A global view of structures and trends in medical education. Underst. Med. Educ. Evid. Theory Pract. 7–22.
Powell A, Torous J. 2020. A patient-centered framework for measuring the economic value of the clinical benefits of digital health apps: theoretical modeling. JMIR Ment. Health 7, e18812
Silva CRDV, Lopes RH, de Goes Bay Jr O, Martiniano CS, Fuentealba-Torres M, Arcêncio RA, Lapão LV, Dias S, da Costa Uchoa SA. 2022. Digital health opportunities to improve primary health care in the context of COVID-19: scoping review. JMIR Hum. Factors 9, e35380.
Slevin P, Kessie T, Cullen J, Butler MW, Donnelly SC, Caulfield B. 2019. Exploring the potential benefits of digital health technology for the management of COPD: a qualitative study of patient perceptions. ERJ Open Res. 5.
Tehrani N. 2017. How advances in digital health benefit pregnant women. Int J Emerg Res Manag Technol 6, 8–10.
Tudor Car L, Kyaw BM, Nannan Panday RS, van der Kleij R, Chavannes N, Majeed A, Car J. 2021. Digital health training programs for medical students: scoping review. JMIR Med. Educ. 7, e28275.
Vlačić B, Corbo L, e Silva SC, Dabić M. 2021. The evolving role of artificial intelligence in marketing: A review and research agenda. J. Bus. Res. 128, 187–203.
Walpole S, Banerjee A, Taylor P. 2017. Health informatics in UK medical education: a survey of current practice. Future Healthc. J. 4, s24.
Zainal H, Xin X, Thumboo J, Fong KY. 2022. Medical school curriculum in the digital age: perspectives of clinical educators and teachers. BMC Med. Educ. 22, 1–10.
Anas A. Alhur, 2023. Integrating digital health into medical curricula: A review of current practices and future directions. Int. J. Biosci., 23(6), 34-43.
Copyright © 2023 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.