Lenhard Nora K, An Crystal, Jasthi Divya, Laurel-Vargas Veronica, Weinstein Ilon, Lam Suet K
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Cusco, Peru.
Glob Health Promot. 2025 Jun;32(2):14-22. doi: 10.1177/17579759241248401. Epub 2024 Aug 22.
Although there is rising interest in virtual global health (GH) education in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been no report on the body of literature describing virtual education partnerships for health professional students. This scoping review examines virtual GH partnerships involving health professional students, including any barriers identified or best practices and ways to address them.
We searched PubMed for studies describing virtual GH education partnerships using keywords related to GH, virtual learning, and partnerships. Inclusion criteria were that the activity was virtual, involved health professional students in two or more countries, and was reported in English or Spanish. In-person clinical electives and interventions that had not yet occurred were excluded. Study quality was assessed using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI).
The search algorithm yielded 308 articles. Seventeen studies met full inclusion criteria. Four studies described asynchronous formats, whereas 13 were synchronous. Common challenges included scheduling challenges, language barriers, and technological limitations. Suggested improvements included having increased faculty support and expanding partnerships to multiple languages. The median MERSQI score was 8.25 out of 18 possible points.
There are limited studies investigating the effectiveness of virtual GH education partnerships, and more robust evaluation is needed to further understand the optimal role of virtual education in teaching GH skills. Despite logistical challenges, virtual partnerships can provide innovative GH education through bidirectional educational exchanges that students find valuable.
鉴于新冠疫情，尽管对虚拟全球健康（GH）教育的兴趣日益浓厚，但尚未有关于描述卫生专业学生虚拟教育伙伴关系的文献报道。本范围综述考察了涉及卫生专业学生的虚拟GH伙伴关系，包括已识别的任何障碍或最佳实践以及应对这些障碍的方法。
我们在PubMed上搜索使用与GH、虚拟学习和伙伴关系相关的关键词描述虚拟GH教育伙伴关系的研究。纳入标准为该活动是虚拟的，涉及两个或更多国家的卫生专业学生，且以英文或西班牙文报道。排除尚未开展的面对面临床选修课程和干预措施。使用医学教育研究质量工具（MERSQI）评估研究质量。
搜索算法产生了308篇文章。17项研究符合完全纳入标准。4项研究描述了异步形式，而13项是同步形式。常见挑战包括日程安排挑战、语言障碍和技术限制。建议的改进措施包括增加教师支持以及将伙伴关系扩展到多种语言。MERSQI得分中位数为18分制中的8.25分。
研究虚拟GH教育伙伴关系有效性的研究有限，需要更有力的评估以进一步了解虚拟教育在教授GH技能方面的最佳作用。尽管存在后勤挑战，但虚拟伙伴关系可以通过学生认为有价值的双向教育交流提供创新的GH教育。
