Artificial Intelligence: Has Its Time Come for Inclusion in Medical School Education? Maybe…Maybe Not

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to strongly modify or even transform the landscape of medicine. Judicious utilization of AI can further propel progress in medical research, facilitate precision medicine, and optimize clinical workflow-the applications are limitless. Although technology and AI algorithms are evolving rapidly and have important implications for future physicians, there is a dearth of literature available for medical students and their educators to learn about AI. While scientific journals provide information regarding AI, they often are written for and by scientists, engineers, and physicians who are well-versed in technology. Currently, medical students must navigate the technical jargon and decipher AI literature without any foundational exposure. It is difficult for students to understand the implications of AI if they do not have basic knowledge of AI and its current capabilities. A fear about AI is pervasive amongst medical students. There is virtually no literature that provides a fundamental and easily digestible overview of AI for medical students and educators, while also offering suggestions about how to integrate AI into medical school curricula. Our goal is to address the lack of formal AI instruction by presenting an informative primer with curricular suggestions for each medical school year, from a U.S. perspective, tailored to medical students and their educators. We seek to present a balanced approach, as there are pros and cons about incorporating AI in undergraduate medical education.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; machine learning; medical school curriculum; medical students; undergraduate medical education.

Figure 1:. AI/ML/DL Classification.

Figure 2:. Basic arrangement of ANN.