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. 2020 Dec 11;2(1):20200037.
doi: 10.1259/bjro.20200037. eCollection 2020.

Artificial intelligence in radiology: does it impact medical students preference for radiology as their future career?

Abdulmajeed Bin Dahmash  1 , Mohammed Alabdulkareem  2 , Aljabriyah Alfutais  3 , Ahmed M Kamel  4 , Feras Alkholaiwi  1 , Shaker Alshehri  3 , Yousof Al Zahrani  3 , Mohammed Almoaiqel  3
Affiliations

Artificial intelligence in radiology: does it impact medical students preference for radiology as their future career?

Abdulmajeed Bin Dahmash et al. BJR Open. .

Abstract

Objective: To test medical students' perceptions of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on radiology and the influence of these perceptions on their choice of radiology as a lifetime career.

Methods: A cross-sectional multicenter survey of medical students in Saudi Arabia was conducted in April 2019.

Results: Of the 476 respondents, 34 considered radiology their first specialty choice, 26 considered it their second choice, and 65 considered it their third choice. Only 31% believed that AI would replace radiologists in their lifetime, while 44.8% believed that AI would minimize the number of radiologists needed in the future. Approximately 50% believed they had a good understanding of AI; however, when knowledge of AI was tested using five questions, on average, only 22% of the questions were answered correctly. Among the respondents who ranked radiology as their first choice, 58.8% were anxious about the uncertain impact of AI on radiology. The number of respondents who ranked radiology as one of their top three choices increased by 14 when AI was not a consideration. Radiology conferences and the opinions of radiologists had the most influence on the respondents' preferences for radiology.

Conclusion: The worry that AI might displace radiologists in the future had a negative influence on medical students' consideration of radiology as a career. Academic radiologists are encouraged to educate their students about AI and its potential impact when students are considering radiology as a lifetime career choice.

Advances in knowledge: Rapid advances of AI in radiology will certainly impact the specialty, the concern of AI impact on radiology had negative influence in our participants and investing in AI education and is highly recommended.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Interested students’ perceptions of the potential impact of AI
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Respondents ranking radiology as their top three choices answer to “The uncertain impact of AI makes me worried to choose radiology as my career.”
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Sources of exposure to Radiology, only participants who ranked radiology as one of their top three choices were included in the analysis (n = 139).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Respondents choice of radiology as a future career based on the impact of AI
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
View of the impact of AI on radiology by source
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Respondents choices if the initiatives that can help medical students make informed decision regarding the impact of AI on radiology
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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