Ivory Tower: Training needed in AI for application in healthcare

Artificial Intelligence or AI in the medical field is transforming healthcare by offering solutions for faster, more accurate diagnosis, personalised treatment and improved patient care. It is being used in various areas, including medical imaging analysis, robotic surgery, drug discovery and healthcare analytics. AI is shaping the future of the medical field.

Rapid advancements are being made in the field of Artificial Intelligence to support digital healthcare transformation and provide evidence-based care. A study was conducted by Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Delhi Heart Institute and Multispeciality Hospital, Bathinda and Narayana Medical College, Nellore. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the knowledge of basic principles, limitations and applications of AI in healthcare among medical students and doctors of a developing country.

Although the majority felt that AI would play an important role in delivering healthcare services in the future (74.4 per cent), they did not feel knowledgeable about the applications (79.6 per cent) and limitations of AI (82.8 per cent). A relatively lesser proportion of doctors (51.6 per cent) felt interested to learn more about AI than medical students (69.3 per cent). Furthermore, a lesser proportion of doctors (65.2 per cent) felt that AI will be beneficial for their career as a doctor as compared to medical students (84.4 per cent). A majority of medical students (83.5 per cent) had never attended any webinar/lecture or course on AI in healthcare and felt that they have received minimal advice (80.7 per cent) from their medical school on teaching about AI and its applications.

A significantly higher proportion of female medical students were not knowledgeable about the principles and applications of AI compared to male respondents. However, female medical students were significantly more interested than male medical students to learn about AI.

The conclusion of this study was that formal training courses should be introduced to teach about AI, focused on facilitating coherent and scientifically supported dissemination of knowledge in medical schools and hospitals. Further, large-scale studies are needed to understand the perception and attitude of medical students and doctors regarding AI to steer policy development and medical education curriculum changes to spark an interest in emerging technologies and drive innovation.

Ludhiana