Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Nov 20:12:23821205251385824.
doi: 10.1177/23821205251385824. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.

Dermoscopy Education in Undergraduate Medical Education: Scoping Review of Pedagogical Approaches and Gaps

Sarah Moussa  1   2 , Ammar Saed Aldien  1 , Sarah A E Aboushawareb  3 , Renata Sava  4 , Elena Netchiporouk  5 , Tamara Carver  3
Affiliations
Review

Dermoscopy Education in Undergraduate Medical Education: Scoping Review of Pedagogical Approaches and Gaps

Sarah Moussa et al. J Med Educ Curric Dev. .

Abstract

Purpose: A dermatoscope, a hand-held magnifying polarized illuminating device, is a powerful tool in the clinician's tool kit for skin cancer examination (SCE), allowing for better screening and diagnostic accuracy. Yet, few physicians are trained to leverage its potential. This scoping review explores current approaches to dermoscopy education among undergraduate medical trainees. A systematic scoping review was conducted by searching 5 databases: Medline, Embase + Classic, Scopus, Web of Science, and Education Resources Information Center.

Major findings: A total of 12 primary articles met the inclusion criteria published between 2012 and 2024 with a total of 1286 participating medical students, most of whom were clerks (nstudies = 6, 50.0%, nparticipants = 498/1286 = 38.7%). Most studies were pre- and posttest control trials (nS = 5, 41.7%, nP = 980/1286 = 76.2%) assessing SCE performance after dermoscopy teaching. Short-term retention and performance were evaluated in 9 studies (nS = 9, 75.0%, nP = 884/1286, 68.7%), in which 5 studies reported immediate statistically significant improvement in posttest scores following their respective educational intervention (P < .05) (nS = 5, 41.7%, nP = 323/1286 = 25.1%). Long-term retention was assessed in 3 studies with heterogenous findings (nS = 3, 25.0%, nP = 432/1286 = 33.6%). Many studies lack explicit reference to a structured framework for teaching dermoscopy (nS = 7, 58.3%, nP = 849/1286 = 66.0%).

Conclusions: The literature has shown successful curricular implementation and effectiveness of dermoscopy teaching at this level. Future research may focus on strategies for curricular integration, long-term retention, and connections to later stages of training and patient care.

Keywords: dermatology; dermatoscope; dermoscopy; skin examination; undergraduate medical education.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hu A, Vender R. Undergraduate dermatology education in Canada: a national survey. J Cutan Med Surg. 2018;22(1):31–37. doi: 10.1177/1203475417725876 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mangion SE, Phan TA, Zagarella S, Cook D, Ganda K, Maibach HI. Medical school dermatology education: a scoping review. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2023;48(6):648–659. doi: 10.1093/ced/llad052 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Schofield JK, Fleming D, Grindlay D, Williams H. Skin conditions are the commonest new reason people present to general practitioners in England and Wales: skin conditions presenting to GPs in England and Wales. Br J Dermatol. 2011;165(5):1044–1050. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2011.10464.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hiom SC. Diagnosing cancer earlier: reviewing the evidence for improving cancer survival: the national awareness and early diagnosis initiative in England: assessing the evidence 5 years on. Br J Cancer. 2015;112(S1):S1–S5. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2015.23 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) . May 2021. Cancer fact: skin cancers increasing among adults. Accessed September 29, 2024. https://www.cancercareontario.ca/en/cancer-facts/skin-cancers-increasing....

LinkOut - more resources