2025 Canadian Medical Student Digital Health Survey
Understanding Canadian medical students’ engagement and training in digital health technologies
Study Objectives
The Canadian Medical Student Digital Health Survey was developed in partnership with the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS), and the Fédération Médicale Étudiante du Québec (FMEQ), and was administered with the support of Canada Health Infoway. Digital health is rapidly changing how medicine is taught, delivered, and experienced. From electronic medical records to virtual care, artificial intelligence, and clinical apps, today’s physicians must be ready to practice in a highly digitized environment. However, it remains unclear how well Canadian medical students are being prepared for this future.
This national survey aims to understand:
Methodology
The 2025 Canadian Medical Student Digital Health Survey is a national cross-sectional survey targeting undergraduate students from all 17 Canadian faculties of medicine. It aimed to capture a representative snapshot of students’ experiences, confidence, and perspectives on digital health in medical education and clinical practice. The survey was made available online in both English and French in October 2025 and was securely hosted by Canada Health Infoway. Respondents were recruited through the CFMS, FMEQ, and AFMC using established communication channels. A representative sample of 1,103 students – roughly 10% of the national medical student population – were recruited through the CFMS, FMEQ, and AFMC using established communication channels.
Developed through expert review and based on established digital health competency frameworks, the survey includes structured questions and brief open-text fields covering exposure, confidence, and educational needs in digital health. A pilot test with ten students from English and French programs was conducted to refine clarity and accessibility.
Ethics approval was obtained before fielding the survey. The ethics approval was granted by an independent institutional review board in September 2025, Veritas IRB Inc (IRB Tracking Number: 2025-3836-22604-2 | 29-Sep- 2025). Since the survey sample is non-probabilistic, a margin of error cannot be determined.
Interpretation of Data
Privacy: Data visualizations do not allow for filtering of data where sample sizes are smaller than 30 respondents in order to preserve respondent anonymity.
Rounding Error: The data presented have been rounded. As a result, totals may differ slightly from 100%