Knowledge Syntheses in Medical Education

Ideally, educators should use the best available evidence to make decisions about their practices as teachers, scholars, and policymakers. However, the rapid increase of scholarly literature in medical education poses a major challenge. Knowledge syntheses (aka reviews), which contextualize and integrate information into a single resource, have become essential tools for navigating this information overload. This article presents an overview of knowledge synthesis in medical education, starting by defining it and providing an overview of the general steps. It then examines four key types of syntheses: systematic reviews, scoping reviews, meta-reviews, and realist reviews, providing examples of each type and, when possible, pointing to reporting guidelines and resources for conducting the type. The article then addresses common methodological pitfalls, including inadequate time planning, limited collaboration with end-users, insufficiently actionable findings, and narrow search strategies. The article concludes by presenting emerging innovations, such as artificial intelligence-supported methodologies, living reviews, and alternative knowledge translation activities.