Techniques to integrate artificial intelligence systems with medical information in gastroenterology

Insights Into the Future: Assessing Medical Students' Artificial Intelligence Readiness - A Cross-Sectional Study at Kerman University of Medical Sciences (2022)

Background

Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently advanced in medicine globally, transforming healthcare delivery and medical education. While AI integration into medical curricula is gaining momentum worldwide, research on medical students' preparedness remains limited, particularly in developing countries. This paper aims to investigate the readiness of medical students at the Kerman University of Medical Sciences to employ AI in medicine in 2022.

Methods

This cross-sectional research was carried out by distributing the validated 20-item Medical Artificial Intelligence Readiness Scale for Medical Students (MAIRS-MS) among 360 medical students, with a response rate of 94% (n = 340). The MAIRS-MS assessed four domains, including cognition (8 items), ability (7 items), vision (2 items), and ethics (3 items), using a 5-point Likert scale. Data analysis was conducted by descriptive statistics and independent sample t-tests in SPSS v24.0, considering p < 0.05 significant.

Results

Participants demonstrated below-average readiness scores across all domains: ability (M = 21.88 ± 6.74, 62.5% of the maximum possible score), cognition (M = 20.30 ± 7.04, 50.8%), ethics (M = 10.94 ± 3.04, 72.9%), and vision (M = 6.09 ± 1.94, 60.9%). The total mean readiness score was 59.21 ± 16.12 (59.2% of the maximum). The highest and lowest-rated items were "value of AI in education" (3.96 ± 1.18) and "explaining AI system training" (2.10 ± 1.01), respectively. No significant differences were found across demographic factors (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

Iranian medical students currently show limited readiness for AI integration in healthcare practice. Therefore, the study recommends: (1) implementing structured introductory AI courses in medical curricula, focusing particularly on technical fundamentals and practical applications, and (2) developing hands-on training programs that combine AI concepts with clinical scenarios. These findings provide valuable insights for curriculum development and educational policy in medical education.

Factors affecting medical artificial intelligence (AI) readiness among medical students: taking stock and looking forward

BACKGROUND

Measuring artificial intelligence (AI) readiness among medical students is essential to assess how prepared future doctors are to work with AI technology. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the factors influencing AI readiness among medical students at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, both by evaluating the current situation and considering future developments.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study. The statistical population consisted of 800 first- to fifth-year medical students selected through convenient sampling at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences from November to March 2023. The data collection tools were demographic checklists and Persian version questionnaire of the medical artificial intelligence readiness scale for medical students (MAIRS-MS). The data were analyzed at a significance level of P < 0.05 using independent t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests through SPSS-24 software.

RESULTS

Most of the students were male (56.13%). The overall score for medical AI readiness was 70.59 ± 19.24 out of a maximum possible score of 110. Students had the highest mean score of 9.73 ± 2.96 out of 15 in vision and the lowest mean score of 25.74 ± 7.52 out of 40 in ability. The overall mean of AI readiness (71.84 ± 18.27) was higher in females than males (69.62 ± 19.93), but this difference was not significant (p = 0.106). Furthermore, the mean total score of AI readiness increased with the increasing age of the students.

CONCLUSION

Our findings underscore the need to prepare students to work with AI technologies and to provide them with the essential knowledge and skills across different areas of AI. Accordingly, the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences student's education unit should set up more AI training centers to provide and introduce basic artificial intelligence courses. Moreover, universities should identify the needs of students based on scientific evidence, and the medical education system should design AI training programs in its educational framework in the same direction.

Determining medical students' anxiety and readiness levels about artificial intelligence

The aim of this study is to determine the levels of anxiety and readiness among medical students regarding artificial intelligence (AI) and examine the relationship between these factors. The research was conducted on medical students, and the data was collected through face-to-face and online surveys between April and June 2022. The study utilized a socio-demographic information form, an AI anxiety scale, and a medical AI readiness scale. The data collected from a total of 542 students were analyzed using the Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Cronbach's α coefficient was used for reliability analysis. A path diagram was created using AMOS 24, and structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis was applied. The findings of the study indicate that medical students have a moderate level of readiness and a high level of anxiety regarding AI. Furthermore, an inverse relationship was found between AI readiness and AI anxiety. These results highlight the importance of increasing the preparedness of medical students for AI applications and reducing their anxieties. The study suggests the inclusion of AI in the medical curriculum and the development of a standardized curriculum to facilitate its teaching.

Healthcare students' knowledge, attitudes, and perspectives toward artificial intelligence in the southern Vietnam

The application of new technologies in medical education still lags behind the extraordinary advances of AI. This study examined the understanding, attitudes, and perspectives of Vietnamese medical students toward AI and its consequences, as well as their knowledge of existing AI operations in Vietnam. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 1142 students enrolled in undergraduate medicine and pharmacy programs. Most of the participants had no understanding of AI in healthcare (1053 or 92.2 %). The majority believed that AI would benefit their careers (890 or 77.9 %) and that such innovation will be used to oversee public health and epidemic prevention on their behalf (882 or 77.2 %). The proportion of students with satisfactory knowledge significantly differed depending on gender (P < 0.001), major (P = 0.003), experience (P < 0.001), and income (P = 0.011). The percentage of respondents with positive attitudes significantly differed by year level (P = 0.008) and income (P = 0.003), and the proportion with favorable perspectives regarding AI varied considerably by age (P = 0.046) and major (P < 0.001). Most of the participants wanted to integrate AI into radiology and digital imaging training (P = 0.283), while the fifth-year students wished to learn about AI in medical genetics and genomics (P < 0.001, 4.0 ± 0.8). The male students had 1.898 times more adequate knowledge of AI than their female counterparts, and those who had attended webinars/lectures/courses on AI in healthcare had 4.864 times more adequate knowledge than those having no such experiences. The majority believed that the barrier to implementing AI in healthcare is the lack of financial resources (83.54 %) and appropriate training (81.00 %). Participants saw AI as a "partner" rather than a "competitor", but the majority of low knowledge was recorded. Future research should take into account the way to integrate AI into medical training programs for healthcare students.

Medical artificial intelligence readiness scale for medical students (MAIRS-MS) - development, validity and reliability study

BACKGROUND

It is unlikely that applications of artificial intelligence (AI) will completely replace physicians. However, it is very likely that AI applications will acquire many of their roles and generate new tasks in medical care. To be ready for new roles and tasks, medical students and physicians will need to understand the fundamentals of AI and data science, mathematical concepts, and related ethical and medico-legal issues in addition with the standard medical principles. Nevertheless, there is no valid and reliable instrument available in the literature to measure medical AI readiness. In this study, we have described the development of a valid and reliable psychometric measurement tool for the assessment of the perceived readiness of medical students on AI technologies and its applications in medicine.

METHODS

To define medical students' required competencies on AI, a diverse set of experts' opinions were obtained by a qualitative method and were used as a theoretical framework, while creating the item pool of the scale. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were applied.

RESULTS

A total of 568 medical students during the EFA phase and 329 medical students during the CFA phase, enrolled in two different public universities in Turkey participated in this study. The initial 27-items finalized with a 22-items scale in a four-factor structure (cognition, ability, vision, and ethics), which explains 50.9% cumulative variance that resulted from the EFA. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was 0.87. CFA indicated appropriate fit of the four-factor model (χ2/df = 3.81, RMSEA = 0.094, SRMR = 0.057, CFI = 0.938, and NNFI (TLI) = 0.928). These values showed that the four-factor model has construct validity.

CONCLUSIONS

The newly developed Medical Artificial Intelligence Readiness Scale for Medical Students (MAIRS-MS) was found to be valid and reliable tool for evaluation and monitoring of perceived readiness levels of medical students on AI technologies and applications. Medical schools may follow 'a physician training perspective that is compatible with AI in medicine' to their curricula by using MAIRS-MS. This scale could be benefitted by medical and health science education institutions as a valuable curriculum development tool with its learner needs assessment and participants' end-course perceived readiness opportunities.