Electronic Flashcards in Health Professions Education: A Scoping Review

Electronic flashcards (EFs) are a widely used learning resource in medical education. This scoping review provides a comprehensive overview of the existing empirical research on EFs and a direction for future research on EF interventions. The authors organized the reviewed articles into 4 nonmutually exclusive categories: development, delivery, utilization, and associated outcomes.

In this scoping review, search queries were composed for 6 databases (PubMed, Embase, Education Resource Information Center, Web of Science, PsychInfo, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature). The database search was conducted on April 12, 2024, for articles published before this date using the following keywords (as well as other keywords): anki, quizlet, firecracker, osmosis, flashcard , spaced repetition , spaced interval training , spaced interval learning , spaced test , and parallel curriculum. Two reviewers screened the studies for eligibility and performed data extraction between August 12, 2024, and September 26, 2024.

Sixty-four studies were included in the review. Most articles were published in the last 6 years (2019-2024) (49 [77%]), in the United States (45 [7%]), and in the context of undergraduate medical education (42 [66%]). The studies predominantly focused on the utilization (51 [78%]) and associated outcomes (38 [59%]) of EFs. In contrast, EF development (12 [19%]) and delivery methods (16 [25%]) were less frequently examined.

This review of the rapidly increasing body of research on EFs suggests broad use and satisfaction among health professions learners; however, much work remains to be done to systematically understand EF development and delivery. Future research directions may consider more systematic investigations of how decisions made during the development and delivery of EFs affect downstream use and learning outcomes. Addressing these gaps will deepen the understanding of how EFs affect medical education pedagogy and facilitate their informed integration and refinement within curricula.