Postgraduate digital health training programmes for primary care physicians: a scoping review protocol

The digital transformation of healthcare has created an urgent need for primary care physicians (PCPs) to acquire competencies in digital health. However, the structure and scope of postgraduate training programmes remain poorly defined and unevenly implemented worldwide, and no scoping review has yet synthesised the evidence. This review aims to map existing postgraduate digital health training programmes for PCPs, including their content, structure and delivery approaches.

This scoping review will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and adhere to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. A systematic search will be conducted across five databases (PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect and Web of Science) and relevant grey literature, covering publications from January 2019 to June 2025. Studies describing postgraduate digital health training programmes for PCPs will be eligible for inclusion. Data will be extracted and synthesised descriptively and thematically using an inductive approach.

As this study is based on a review of publicly available literature, ethical approval is not required. The findings will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication and conference presentations and will inform future curriculum development and policy in digital health education for PCPs. The results may also inform national curriculum reforms and accreditation standards, supporting more consistent and competency-based digital health education globally.

This scoping review protocol has been registered with the Open Science Framework.