Team-based learning in health professions education: A bibliometric analysis

Team-based learning (TBL) has become a widely adopted pedagogical strategy in health professions education (HPE) in the last 25 years. This bibliometric analysis aimed to characterize the most influential publications involving TBL in HPE.

We performed a bibliometric analysis of the 50 most cited English-language articles on TBL in HPE, retrieved from Scopus in 2024 and updated in March 2025. Inclusion criteria focused on articles aligned with core TBL principles and phases. Metadata were extracted and analyzed using Microsoft Excel, SPSS, and VOSviewer to assess citation metrics, author collaboration, keyword co-occurrence, and bibliographic coupling. Normalized citation scores were calculated to account for publication year.

The 50 articles with the highest normalized citations accrued 6295 citations (range: 58-402). The highest normalized citation score was 2.2. Only a small correlation was observed between article age and normalized citations (Spearman's ρ = 0.137, p = 0.342). Most articles were original research (66 %), with academic performance and student perception as common outcomes. Authors from 11 countries contributed, with the USA accounting for 70 % of publications. Keyword analysis revealed clusters centered on active learning and medical education. The journals publishing the most TBL articles were American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education (n = 10), Medical Teacher (n = 9), and Academic Medicine (n = 6).

This is the first bibliometric analysis of TBL in HPE, identifying key contributors, trends, and gaps. Findings highlight the dominance of medical and pharmacy education in TBL research and suggest opportunities for expansion into other health disciplines.