Evolution of medical students’ tolerance for uncertainty throughout their curriculum: a systematic mixed studies review protocol

Introduction Understanding how uncertainty tolerance (UT) evolves in medical students is crucial to identify training needs and implement effective interventions. However, the dynamic nature of UT and the mechanisms behind its changes over time remain poorly understood. This systematic review aims t...

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Main Authors: Alain Lescoat, Thierry Pelaccia, Nicolas Belhomme, François Robin, Pierre Pottier, Emmanuel Triby
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2025-06-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/6/e096117.full
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author Alain Lescoat
Thierry Pelaccia
Nicolas Belhomme
François Robin
Pierre Pottier
Emmanuel Triby
author_facet Alain Lescoat
Thierry Pelaccia
Nicolas Belhomme
François Robin
Pierre Pottier
Emmanuel Triby
author_sort Alain Lescoat
collection DOAJ
description Introduction Understanding how uncertainty tolerance (UT) evolves in medical students is crucial to identify training needs and implement effective interventions. However, the dynamic nature of UT and the mechanisms behind its changes over time remain poorly understood. This systematic review aims to map the development of UT in medical students across the course of their training by synthesising the available evidence. We will adopt a systematic mixed studies review approach to provide an integrative synthesis of both quantitative and qualitative data, offering a comprehensive overview of UT temporal evolution.Method and analysis The protocol follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We will conduct searches in Embase, Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, ERIC, Cochrane Library and PsycINFO, from inception to July 2026. We will manually search the references of included studies and track citations through Google Scholar to identify additional eligible studies. Two reviewers will independently extract data from each eligible study using a pre-piloted Microsoft Excel data extraction form. A thematic synthesis will be employed to develop analytic themes from the existing literature, generating new concepts and explanatory hypotheses. Study quality will be evaluated using the QuADS score.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval is not necessary for this systematic review, as no primary data will be collected. The protocol for this review has been registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews PROSPERO: CRD42024591340.
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spelling doaj-art-e98c5a5391b54224976e9c4da636ec9e2025-08-20T03:31:05ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552025-06-0115610.1136/bmjopen-2024-096117Evolution of medical students’ tolerance for uncertainty throughout their curriculum: a systematic mixed studies review protocolAlain Lescoat0Thierry Pelaccia1Nicolas Belhomme2François Robin3Pierre Pottier4Emmanuel Triby5Service de Médecine Interne et Immunologie Clinique, CHU Rennes, Université de Rennes France; Inserm, EHESP, Irset (Institut de Recherche en Santé, Environnement et Travail)-UMR_S 1085, Rennes, FranceLaboratoire Interuniversitaire des Sciences de l’Education et de la Communication, LISEC_UR2310, Université de Strasbourg, Rennes, FranceService de Médecine Interne et Immunologie Clinique, CHU Rennes, Université de Rennes France; Inserm, EHESP, Irset (Institut de Recherche en Santé, Environnement et Travail)-UMR_S 1085, Rennes, FranceService de Rhumatologie, CHU Rennes, Université de Rennes, Rennes, FranceService de Médecine Interne et Immunologie Clinique, CHU Nantes; Faculté de Médecine-Pôle Santé, Nantes Université, Nantes, FranceLaboratoire Interuniversitaire des Sciences de l’Education et de la Communication, LISEC_UR2310, Université de Strasbourg, Rennes, FranceIntroduction Understanding how uncertainty tolerance (UT) evolves in medical students is crucial to identify training needs and implement effective interventions. However, the dynamic nature of UT and the mechanisms behind its changes over time remain poorly understood. This systematic review aims to map the development of UT in medical students across the course of their training by synthesising the available evidence. We will adopt a systematic mixed studies review approach to provide an integrative synthesis of both quantitative and qualitative data, offering a comprehensive overview of UT temporal evolution.Method and analysis The protocol follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We will conduct searches in Embase, Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, ERIC, Cochrane Library and PsycINFO, from inception to July 2026. We will manually search the references of included studies and track citations through Google Scholar to identify additional eligible studies. Two reviewers will independently extract data from each eligible study using a pre-piloted Microsoft Excel data extraction form. A thematic synthesis will be employed to develop analytic themes from the existing literature, generating new concepts and explanatory hypotheses. Study quality will be evaluated using the QuADS score.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval is not necessary for this systematic review, as no primary data will be collected. The protocol for this review has been registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews PROSPERO: CRD42024591340.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/6/e096117.full
spellingShingle Alain Lescoat
Thierry Pelaccia
Nicolas Belhomme
François Robin
Pierre Pottier
Emmanuel Triby
Evolution of medical students’ tolerance for uncertainty throughout their curriculum: a systematic mixed studies review protocol
BMJ Open
title Evolution of medical students’ tolerance for uncertainty throughout their curriculum: a systematic mixed studies review protocol
title_full Evolution of medical students’ tolerance for uncertainty throughout their curriculum: a systematic mixed studies review protocol
title_fullStr Evolution of medical students’ tolerance for uncertainty throughout their curriculum: a systematic mixed studies review protocol
title_full_unstemmed Evolution of medical students’ tolerance for uncertainty throughout their curriculum: a systematic mixed studies review protocol
title_short Evolution of medical students’ tolerance for uncertainty throughout their curriculum: a systematic mixed studies review protocol
title_sort evolution of medical students tolerance for uncertainty throughout their curriculum a systematic mixed studies review protocol
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/6/e096117.full
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