The use of BEME reviews in the medical education literature

Abstract

Introduction

Knowledge syntheses in medical education are intended to promote the translation to, and mobilization of, research knowledge into practice. Despite the effort invested in conducting them, how these knowledge syntheses are used is unclear. This study aimed to explore how knowledge syntheses published by the Best Evidence Medical Education Collaboration (BEME) have been used in a cross-section of published literature.

Methods

Citation patterns for BEME reviews were explored using data drawn from Web of Science and Scopus, and a sub-sample of citing papers.

Results

Bibliometric data on 3419 papers citing 29 BEME reviews were analysed. More detailed data were extracted from a random sample of 629 full-text papers.

Discussion

BEME reviews were most often positioned to consolidate and summarize the current state of knowledge on a particular topic and to identify gaps in the literature; they were also used to justify current research, and less frequently to contextualize and explain results, or direct future areas of research. Their use to identify instruments or methodological approaches was relatively absent.

Conclusion

While BEME reviews are primarily used to justify and support other studies, the current literature does not demonstrate their translation to educational practice.

Keywords:

• Medical education research
• evidence syntheses
• bibliometric analysis

Acknowledgments

We dedicate this paper to our dear friend and colleague Dr. Karen Mann who was a part of the study team up until her untimely death in 2016. We also wish to thank Ms. Chelsea Misquith and Ms. Joanna Czupryn for assistance with data collection and data entry.

Disclosure statement

The authors are members of the BEME Collaboration.

Glossary

‘Citation patterns’: the ways in which an academic paper is cited by other papers, the ways in which its messages are articulated, and the uses to which those messages are put.

‘Citation analysis’: commonly used bibliometric method which is used to explore the impact of a field, the impact of a set of researchers, the impact of a particular paper, or to identify particularly impactful papers within a specific field of research.

‘Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) Collaboration’: an international group of individuals, universities and professional organisations committed to the development of evidence-informed education in the medical and health professions through the dissemination of information which allows teachers and stakeholders in the medical and health professions to make decisions on the basis of the best evidence available; through the production of systematic reviews which present the best available evidence; and through the creation of a culture of best evidence education amongst individuals, institutions and national bodies.

(BEME 2019)

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tanya Horsley

Tanya Horsley, PhD, MBA is the Associate Director, Research at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, Canada & Adjunct Professor, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.

Yvonne Steinert

Yvonne Steinert, PhD, is a Professor of Family Medicine and Health Sciences Education and the Director of the newly formed Institute of Health Sciences Education at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and the Chair of the BEME International Collaborating Centre (BICC) at McGill University.

Karen Leslie

Karen Leslie, MD, MEd is Professor of Paediatrics, and Director of the Centre for Faculty Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada.

Anna Oswald

Anna Oswald, MD, MMEd is a Professor in the Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Farah Friesen

Farah Friesen, MI, is Education Knowledge Broker and Program Coordinator, Centre for Faculty Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada.

Rachel H. Ellaway

Rachel H. Ellaway, PhD, is Professor in Community Health Sciences and Director of the Office of Health and Medical Education Scholarship (OHMES) at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.