Global Trends and Mapping of Undergraduate Medical Education Research up to 2025: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis

Undergraduate medical education has expanded and diversified substantially over recent decades, yet its global research landscape remains insufficiently characterised. This study aimed to describe the evolution, thematic structure, and scientific impact of research in undergraduate medical education. A bibliometric analysis was conducted of all original articles and reviews indexed in MEDLINE under the Medical Subject Headings descriptor “Education, Medical, Undergraduate” up to 15 November 2025, using Scopus to retrieve affiliation and citation data. Publication trends, countries, journals, subject categories, MeSH terms, citations, and thematic co-occurrence were analysed. A total of 24,149 publications were included, mostly original articles. Scientific output increased markedly over time, with almost half of all publications appearing in the last fifteen years. Output was largely concentrated in English-speaking countries, led by the United States, and in a relatively small number of specialised journals. The most frequent descriptors related to medical students, curriculum, assessment and clinical competence. Over time, learner-centred descriptors gained prominence, whereas those related to teaching organisation and postgraduate training declined in relative terms. Undergraduate medical education has developed into a well-established and increasingly diversified research field, with a gradual change in emphasis towards student-centred learning, competency development, assessment, clinical training, and educational outcomes.