Medical students’ education in disaster medicine: A systematic literature review of existing curricula

Disaster Medicine (DM) is currently underrepresented in medical schools’ curricula worldwide, and existing DM courses for medical students are extremely heterogeneous due to the lack of pragmatic and standardized guidelines. Moreover, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the curriculum development methodology used for DM courses. This study aims to identify DM courses for medical students worldwide and to map their curriculum development methodologies by reviewing available literature. The search was conducted on three databases using terms “Disaster medicine” AND “Education”. Following the PRISMA approach, twenty-five articles that described the content and implementation of DM curricula were included in the analysis. Nine studies thoroughly described the curriculum development process. Expert opinion and literature review were the methodologies mostly used to develop DM curricula. Only four studies followed a multi-method process made up of four different methodologies, including expert opinion, literature review, survey, and Delphi methodology. Most of the courses adopted a face-to-face approach combining different training modalities, including the use of virtual reality simulations and drills. Overall, this systematic review highlights the need for evidence-based educational curricula in DM and provides recommendations for developing DM courses following a scientific approach.