How I Learned to Embrace AI in Medical Education

I was both skeptical and overwhelmed by the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical and health professions education. Skeptical because I wondered how AI could understand my vision as an educator and overwhelmed because of the sheer volume of conversations about how AI is revolutionizing medical education. As a millennial, I have witnessed the evolution of technology firsthand. We have transitioned from textbooks to the internet and then to digital books – our world and scope of learning have expanded as our screens have shrunk. While the world around me changed, I have always found comfort, joy, and stability in creating content. I adapted to shifts from pen-and-paper drawings to Microsoft Paint, and eventually to advanced digital art tools like Procreate on iPad.  

Yet, I struggled with adapting to AI, fearing it might replace my creativity. It seemed like a shortcut. How could an automated process align with my hands-on, from-scratch style of content creation? Would using AI make me lose my authenticity and become dependent on these tools? 

Thanks to the Harvard Macy Institute Technology and AI: Transforming Health Professions Education course, my perspective changed. The course directors and the expert team of faculty demonstrated AI’s potential through their own insights and experiences, showing me how I could remain the chef in my kitchen, with AI as my sous-chef. As the weeks went by, we progressively added both AI and non-AI-based technology tools to our toolkit. We learned how to craft effective ChatGPT prompts, use AI to generate code for interactive exercises, and incorporate active learning, multimedia, and other instructional methods into traditional formats, such as PowerPoint.  

Coming from a place of skepticism, I decided not to let AI create something new but to use it to experiment with my existing material. Using my notes on tumor nomenclature, intended for learners new to oncology like first year medical students, I discovered a vast new array of possibilities, including but not limited to:  

As someone who transitioned from using pen-and-paper notetaking to using digital tools like Microsoft OneNote, NotebookLM has been a great addition. Its features offer tremendous potential for exploration, from generating deep-dive audio summaries as podcasts to creating mind-maps. NotebookLM has become a trusted companion. I reflect on my handwritten notes from medical school and residency and how far things have evolved that I can now access, engage, and interact with them actively and creatively. 

Experimenting with AI using existing material prompted me to consider how I could utilize it to support my social media initiative, “Pathodoodles,”which features colorful and informative doodles to make pathology education more engaging and accessible. After brainstorming with ChatGPT and Gemini, Google’s advanced personal assistant), I identified the potential of AI-generated images in creating Pathodoodles content. Using the text-to-image function of AI tools like DALL-E through ChatGPT or Imagen 3 on Google Gemini, I generated simple backgrounds or line diagrams. Once these images were optimized to fit my vision, I added finer details using Procreate on my iPad. This process was not only time saving but also enhanced the visual appeal of my posts without compromising my creativity. Additionally, instead of searching multiple sources for the best summary or highlights for my doodles, I now utilize NotebookLM to do that for me.  

 As you can probably tell by now, I have been changed — not because AI won me over in this course, but because I discovered a friend, a collaborator, and a team member in AI. This experience has reminded and reaffirmed for me that my role as an educator is to engage, inspire, and innovate. While much of the conversation around AI has focused on its revolutionary products, I am focusing on the process of creation, not just the product. This shift is proving to be an incredibly exciting and inviting journey.