On average, MOOCs expected a participant to work on the material for 4.2 hours a week. The duration of MOOCs varied from 3-20 weeks with an average length of 6.7 weeks. Only three MOOCs were offered by developing countries (China, West Indies, and Saudi Arabia). Universities offered 90 MOOCs, and the John Hopkins University offered the largest number of MOOCs (12/90). Over half (58%, 57/98) of the MOOCs considered were offered on the Coursera platform, and 94% (92/98) of all the MOOCs were offered in English. All language translations in this paper were done using Google Translate.ResultsThe search identified 225 courses, of which 98 were eligible for the review.

Eligibility criteria were defined to concentrate on the courses that were offered in 2013 and primarily on the subject of health and medicine. Two MOOC aggregator sites (Class Central and MOOC List) were also consulted to gather data on MOOC offerings. In parallel, these MOOC platforms were contacted to access official data on their offerings. Identified MOOC platform websites were used to gather the lists of offerings.

We also discuss opportunities and challenges presented by MOOCs in health and medicine.MethodsHealth and medicine-related MOOCs were gathered using several methods to ensure the richness and completeness of data. However, there is very little research exploring MOOCs in the discipline of health and medicine.ObjectiveWe aim to provide a review of MOOCs related to health and medicine offered by various MOOC platforms in 2013, by analyzing and comparing the various offerings, their target audience, typical length of course, and credentials offered. BackgroundMassive open online courses (MOOCs) have become immensely popular in a short span of time.

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