Biannual Journal of Medical Education

Background and Objective: Despite the popularity of online education, the debate about its effectiveness continues. Given the knowledge gap in the field of online education challenges, there are few studies on effective interventions to overcome barriers to virtual education in medical students. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of reviewing the effectiveness of virtual education interventions in medical students.

Methods: A descriptive review study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of virtual education interventions in medical students. A computer and paper search of articles was conducted without considering time constraints from the Med Pub, Ovid, Science Direct, Elsevier, and IranMedex databases. After the search, 15 articles were selected based on the research criteria. These studies were reviewed and critiqued based on the Braden & Sidani article review framework. Findings: The findings of the literature review showed that virtual education through new interventions and methods may have a positive effect on the participation of first-year students in their learning. However, this finding should be considered because of methodological concerns about low-level evidence due to the lack of sufficient studies in this field, lack of clarity and explanation about the type of study, failure to comply with interventional study standards, and weak outcome criteria. Conclusions: There are still key knowledge gaps in the field of overcoming challenges and barriers to the effectiveness of virtual education. Therefore, it is suggested that, given the current need of universities for virtual education, future studies move towards solutions to overcome barriers to virtual education, thereby improving learning outcomes and participation of health system learners.