Addressing the challenges and impact of flipped classroom model on the performance and perception of health professional students: an umbrella review

In response to the advancements in the worldwide healthcare landscape, health professional education has become crucial for addressing those issues. With the emerging challenges, inefficiencies in current health education practices drive the need to develop innovative teaching methods, such as the flipped classroom (FC) model. This study aims to evaluate the challenges and impact of the FC model on health professional students’ performance and perception. A structured umbrella review was conducted according to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodological guidelines. The search was performed in four databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews and PMC. Analyzing eighteen reviews published in 2020–2025, we discovered similar results reporting the positive effect of FC on students’ grades, both theoretical and practical. Findings also indicated a positive perception following FC implementation. However, gaps in evidence related to technical aspects, particularly concerning the learning duration and optimal workload, were identified as challenges. While the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) rating indicated limited certainty of evidence, findings suggested that FC model implementation may improve health students’ performance and elicit positive perception. Future research is essential to obtain empirical evidence regarding the specific technicalities-related issue during FC implementation in health profession education. The present umbrella review synthesizes evidence published from 2020 to 2025 on students’ viewpoints of the implementation of flipped classroom (FC) approaches across health professional education. By integrating empirical evidence from multiple reviews, this study explains the necessity to improve active and flexible learning approach within health professional curriculum through the FC model. The findings provide practical guidance for teachers and curriculum developers to align the strategies with students’ needs and expectations for their effective application in health education practices.