Open Science in Undergraduate Medical Education: An International Framework for Transparency, Responsibility, and Professional Identity Formation

Abstract

Concerns about reproducibility, transparency, and research waste have intensified debates about trust in medical research and health-related sciences. Although Open science initiatives aim to address these challenges, their role in undergraduate medical education remains underexplored. Undergraduate medical education typically emphasizes appraisal of published evidence but pays less attention to how research is conducted, governed, and disseminated. This article proposes an international conceptual framework that positions Open science as part of professional formation in undergraduate medical education. The framework comprises three domains: epistemic transparency, ethical responsibility, and professional identity formation. Together, they describe how learners engage with knowledge production, uncertainty, and responsibility. Rather than prescribing curricular models, the framework offers adaptable principles that can be mapped onto existing structures such as competency-based programs in diverse contexts. By framing Open science as a formative orientation rather than a technical skill set, it links medical education to professional responsibility and the public role of medicine.