Research Trends in Medical Teachers' Digital Literacy: A Bibliometric Analysis

ObjectiveThis study aimed to analyze the hotspots of research in the digital literacy of medical teachers and provide references for its development.MethodsThe Web of Science Core Collection database was searched for works published between January 2021 and December 2025 using "digital literacy/digital competence", "medical education/health professions education", and "teacher" as subject terms. NoteExpress version 3.0 was employed for literature management and deduplication, and CiteSpace 6.3.R1 was used for bibliometric analysis and knowledge map visualization. Indicators such as annual publication trends, country/institution distribution, keyword clustering, and burst detection were established, and visual maps were drawn.ResultsThe annual number of publications on the digital literacy of medical teachers increased from January in 2021 to December in 2025, and 6,452 eligible studies were identified in total. The top five countries in terms of cumulative publication output were the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany. The top five high-frequency keywords were digital literacy (945 occurrences), literacy (657 occurrences), technology (478 occurrences), health literacy (418 occurrences), and education (401 occurrences). Ten keyword clustering themes were identified, namely digital health, digital literacy, information literacy, integration of digital tools with multimodal resources, artificial intelligence, health equity, higher education, health literacy, social media, and financial literacy. Based on the results of keyword burst detection in recent years, current research hotspots were identified as university students, risk factors, adolescents, digital literacy, and pedagogy.ConclusionResearch on the digital literacy of medical teachers is growing fast, centering on literacy connotation, competency development, and technological integration, with hotspots shifting to research subjects, practical teaching, and ethical risk management. Current studies are mostly single-country-based and characterized by weak international cooperation and inadequate standardized evaluation systems. Future research needs more cross-border collaboration, discipline-specific assessment tools, and digital education risk prevention.