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Evidence from cognitive psychology supports its impact, and health professions have broadly adopted it for learning and study, especially for course exams and high-stakes licensing assessments. This state-of-the-art review traces the historical development of retrieval practice, details current applications in health professions education, and outlines future research directions. 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Research in cognitive psychology shows it improves retention and comprehension by strengthening learning through the act of retrieving information.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How have health professions education programs adopted retrieval practice?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"Medicine, nursing, and dentistry have widely embraced retrieval practice as a learning and study tool. It is used especially for course exams and high-stakes licensing exams, with faculty and educational resource developers integrating it into study and training.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What challenges limit students’ adoption of retrieval practice in health professions?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"Despite proven benefits, barriers persist in student adoption. 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Serra 1, *, Althea N. Kaminske 2, Cynthia Nebel 3 and Kristen M. Coppola 4  \nAcademic Editors: Jeri L. Little and Elizabeth Ligon Bjork  \nReceived: 31 March 2025  \nRevised: 10 July 2025  \nAccepted: 15 July 2025  \nPublished: 17 July 2025  \nCitation: Serra, M. J., Kaminske, A. N., Nebel, C., & Coppola, K. M. (2025) . The Use of Retrieval Practice in the Health Professions: A State-of-the-Art Review. Behavioral Sciences, 15(7), 974 . [https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15070974](https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15070974)  \n[Copyright:](Copyright:) © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://creativecommons.org/](https://creativecommons.org/)[ ](https://creativecommons.org/)[licenses/by/4.0/](licenses/by/4.0/)) .  \n1 Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA  \n2 Department of Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA; [abauerns@iu.edu](abauerns@iu.edu)  \n3 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, St. Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA; [cynthia.nebel@health.slu.edu](cynthia.nebel@health.slu.edu)  \n4 Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA  \n* [Correspondence: michael.serra@ttuhsc.edu](Correspondence: michael.serra@ttuhsc.edu); Tel.: +1-806-743-4900  \nAbstract  \nRetrieval practice, or the active recall of information from memory, is a highly effective learning strategy that strengthens memory and comprehension. This effect is robust and strongly backed by research in cognitive psychology. The health professions—including medicine, nursing, and dentistry—have widely embraced retrieval practice as a learning and study tool, particularly for course exams and high-stakes licensing exams. This stateof-the-art review examines the historical development, current applications, and future directions for the use of retrieval practice in health professions education. While retrievalbased learning has long been used informally in these fields, its formal recognition as a scientifically supported study method gained momentum in the early 2000s and then sawa surge in both research interest and curricular adoption between 2010 and 2025 . This historical review explores the key factors driving this growth, such as its alignment with assessment-driven education and the increasing availability of third-party study resources that rely on retrieval practice as a guiding principle. Despite its proven benefits for learning, however, barriers persist to its adoption by students, including in the health professions. This article discusses strategies for overcoming these challenges and for enhancing retrieval practice integration into health professions curricula.  \nKeywords: retrieval practice; health professions education; applied cognitive psychology; self-regulated learning; test-enhanced learning  \n1. Introduction  \nRetrieval practice (sometimes called ‘the testing effect’,‘retrieval-based learning’ or‘test-enhanced learning’) describes the finding that retrieval, or the process of recalling information from the mind, enhances one’s learning and memory. Extensive research in cognitive psychology highlights the effectiveness of retrieval practice for enhancing retention and comprehension (Agarwal et al., 2008; Karpicke, 2017) . Practice tests and other assessments not only reinforce learning but also provide valuable feedback to guide restudy (Ariel & Karpicke, 2018) .  \nThe health professions—including medicine, nursing, and dentistry—have widely adopted retrieval practice as an effective method for learning and studying, particularly in preparation for high-stakes and licensing exams. This review explo","cbCaiiPp5fPeTMJw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiPp5fPeTMJw","pdf",463200,29,"English","# Introduction\n## Retrieval Practice\n# Retrieval Practice in Health Professions Education\n## Current Applications\n## Future Directions","[{\"question\":\"What is retrieval practice and why is it effective for learning?\",\"answer\":\"Retrieval practice is active recall of information from memory. Research in cognitive psychology shows it improves retention and comprehension by strengthening learning through the act of retrieving information.\"},{\"question\":\"How have health professions education programs adopted retrieval practice?\",\"answer\":\"Medicine, nursing, and dentistry have widely embraced retrieval practice as a learning and study tool. It is used especially for course exams and high-stakes licensing exams, with faculty and educational resource developers integrating it into study and training.\"},{\"question\":\"What challenges limit students’ adoption of retrieval practice in health professions?\",\"answer\":\"Despite proven benefits, barriers persist in student adoption. The review discusses strategies to overcome these challenges and enhance the integration of retrieval practice into health professions curricula.\"}]","The Use of Retrieval Practice in the Health Professions - A State-of-the-Art Review | PDF",73]