Research into cost and value in medical education: can we make findings more generalisable? Commentary.

In recent years a growing number of papers have started to appear in the literature on the subject of cost and value in medical education. However many of the articles describe tactical projects within specific areas. As a result the generalisability of such articles is often questionable. Lack of generalisability will mean that progress in research and practice in this field will be slow. Generalisability of cost-value analyses in any discipline is not always straightforward. However reports on cost and value in medical education should ideally ensure absolute clarity with regard to study centres, enrolment of learners, alternative options, perspectives of stakeholders, resources used and their costs, instruments used, variability, and any problems with the analyses (such as incomplete data).