DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND FUTURE OF MEDICAL EDUCATION

Abstract

One of the major challenges, which COVID-19 pandemic has presented to medical teachers, is to either readapt and transform their usual clinical teaching on real patients in such a way that there is a zero risk of transmission of SARS CoV-2 to any of the participants i.e. the patient, the students and the teacher or use alternate methods to teach clinical medicine. Consequently, the situation has led to the increased use of digital technology (DT) and an assortment of gadgets and tools along with artificial intelligence (AI) are being used increasingly to enhance teaching and learning activities. It is apparent that the DT and AI are also going to play a progressively substantial role in the examination, diagnosis and management of patients. This will have major implications to the field of medical education globally. Medical teachers are facing two vital challenges: how to use digital technologies in medical education, and how to be a medical teacher in a digital age. These challenges have become even more crucial as we are currently training the last generation of doctors who can remember a time before the Internet, the first who will learn in an environment dominated by digital technologies and the first who will practice in a predominantly e-health environment [1]. The educational goals of using technology in medical education include facilitating basic knowledge acquisition, improving decision making, enhancement of perceptual variation, improving skill coordination, practicing for rare or critical events, learning team training, and improving psychomotor skills. Different technologies can address these goals. The task of medical educators is to use these new technologies effectively to transform learning into a more collaborative, personalized, and empowering experience [2]. Digital technologies encompass the computing devices, software and network infrastructures. AI uses large data sets and identifies interaction patterns among variables. These techniques can discover previously unknown associations, generate novel hypotheses, and drive researchers and resources toward most fruitful directions [3]. Technologies such as podcasts and videos with flipped classrooms, mobile devices with apps, video games, simulations and wearable devices are some of the applications that are currently playing crucial roles in changing the educational environment [2]. Most of the physical examination is being replaced by technology and even positive findings on physical examination are re-confirmed by use of technology. Ultrasonography has become a routine examination in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, echocardiography is a must in every child with suspected congenital heart disease and there is no need to use physical examination skills to locate the site of lesion in CNS as CT scan and MRI will do it for you. AI is contributing momentously in making diagnoses by comparing patient data/photos with those stored in the massive data bank. Use of AI in making diagnosis of syndromes and skin diseases by