Educating students about digital health research ethics: a curricula review and expert interviews (Preprint)

BACKGROUND he rapid growth of digital health research, involving wearable devices, mobile applications, and socio-technical health systems, raises complex ethical, legal, and social considerations. While institutional review boards and research ethics frameworks address some concerns, less is known about how students and trainees in digital health are systematically educated to recognize and navigate these challenges. Understanding the scope and content of ethics training is critical to ensuring the responsible development and application of digital health technologies. OBJECTIVE This study investigated how college students are trained to identify and address ethical considerations in digital health research through an analysis of formal curricula and expert perspectives. METHODS Researchers reviewed 132 syllabi from 76 academic programs across 62 universities and conducted semi-structured interviews with six leading digital health scholars. All syllabi were coded for instructional content and learning objectives. Researchers conducted open coding and collaboratively applied affinity diagramming to organize the data into hierarchical themes. RESULTS All syllabi included instructional content, and most (n=98 courses, 64 programs) included explicit learning objectives. Analysis identified seven key themes, which captured both explicit knowledge imparted through formal instruction and tacit knowledge cultivated through lab work, mentorship, and applied experiences. Findings highlighted gaps between formal ethics instruction and the realities of research practice. CONCLUSIONS Results point to the need to strengthen the feedback loop between ethics education and research practice. Recommendations include creating accessible pathways for student research involvement, curating case studies of digital health strategies and socio-technical systems and encouraging trainees to document real-world ethical dilemmas and responses. Implementing these strategies can scale access to the practical and applied ethics knowledge essential for responsible digital health research. CLINICALTRIAL N/A