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

Area of Science:

• Digital Health Education
• Primary Care Medicine
• Medical Training

Background:

• Digital transformation necessitates digital health competencies for primary care physicians (PCPs).
• Existing postgraduate training programs for PCPs in digital health are poorly defined and inconsistently implemented globally.
• No prior scoping review has synthesized evidence on these training programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To map existing postgraduate digital health training programs for PCPs.
• To analyze the content, structure, and delivery approaches of these programs.
• To inform the development of digital health curricula and policies for PCPs.

Main Methods:

• Adherence to Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and PRISMA-ScR checklist.
• Systematic literature search across five databases (PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, Web of Science) and grey literature (Jan 2019 - June 2025).
• Inclusion of studies describing postgraduate digital health training for PCPs; descriptive and thematic synthesis of extracted data.

Main Results:

• (Results will be presented upon completion of the review.)
• (Results will be presented upon completion of the review.)
• (Results will be presented upon completion of the review.)

Conclusions:

• (Conclusions will be drawn from the review findings.)
• (Findings will inform curriculum development and policy for PCP digital health education.)
• (Results may guide national curriculum reforms and accreditation standards for consistent, competency-based digital health education.)