Osmosis as a supplementary medical education tool: a scoping review

Rebecca Donkin; Joshua Hudson; Cameron Hunter; Heather Yule; Trina Fyfe

doi:10.25907/01032

Asynchronous digital learning platforms supplement traditional medical education, but most are under-researched or do not follow a pedagogical framework to support or understand intended use and learning (Kulkarni et al, 2025). An example of an asynchronous digital learning platform is Osmosis https://www.osmosis.org/, a digital education platform that includes videos, flashcards, and case-based multiple-choice questions for self-assessment of learning. Whilst Osmosis has been reported in the literature regarding supplemental use in health education (Hoyt, 2023; Dost 2020; Tackett, 2021), there is little information available on the rate of uptake in medical education. Furthermore, there is a paucity of literature that details the learning theories and outcomes of Osmosis use in medical education. In an attempt to extend understanding in this area, a proposal to conduct a scoping review to explore the evidence-based literature that describes the use of the application of Osmosis in medical education and how this literature describes outcomes, perceptions and the learning theories is proposed. A scoping review is an appropriate method (Lockwood et al, 2019) to examine the application of Osmosis and the academic and student perceptions of the digital platform as it facilitates the synthesis of evidence to date by mapping methods, tools, reporting, and research limitations around how this asynchronous digital tool is perceived in medical education. This protocol will inform the scoping review and follows the framework provided by the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews). A checklist will be used as a systematic approach to map and report results of the search which complies with the Joanna Briggs Institute 2020 guide (Peters et al., 2020; Tricco et al., 2016). Over 15-17th April 2026, a preliminary search was conducted to identify any existing reviews on the specified topic (Appendix I). The search was conducted using the Ovid MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL EBSCO, ERIC EBSCO, APA PsycInfo EBSCO, and PubMed databases using key words, for example “Osmosis” AND “medical education” in titles, abstracts and keywords of articles. There were 352 identified articles that were published on this topic (68 duplicates). No scoping reviews were identified in this search. The objective of this scoping review is to identify the use of Osmosis and describe the student and academic perceptions of Osmosis to supplement learning in medical education with specific research questions.

Osmosis as a supplementary medical education tool: a scoping review

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