Medical Students’ Perceptions towards Digitization and Artificial Intelligence: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Digital technologies in health care, including artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, constantly increase. The aim of this study was to explore attitudes of 2020 medical students’ generation towards various aspects of eHealth technologies with the focus on AI using an exploratory sequential mixed-method analysis. Data from semi-structured interviews with 28 students from five medical faculties were used to construct an online survey send to about 80,000 medical students in Germany. Most students expressed positive attitudes towards digital applications in medicine. Students with a problem-based curriculum (PBC) in contrast to those with a science-based curriculum (SBC) and male undergraduate students think that AI solutions result in better diagnosis than those from physicians (p < 0.001). Male undergraduate students had the most positive view of AI (p < 0.002). Around 38% of the students felt ill-prepared and could not answer AI-related questions because digitization in medicine and AI are not a formal part of the medical curriculum. AI rating regarding the usefulness in diagnostics differed significantly between groups. Higher emphasis in medical curriculum of digital solutions in patient care is postulated.

Digitalization in Medicine: Are German Medical Students Well Prepared for the Future?

“…Medical students in general, as reflected in this study, currently have no job-related concerns about digitalization [ 84 ]. Medical students, however, have very controversial attitudes towards the medical field of radiology regarding possible changes due to digitalization [ 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 ].…”

“…AI presents a unique situation here, as there are qualitative differences for issues of explainability, health equity, and data security [ 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 ]. While students are to some extent well aware of the possibilities and limitations of AI [ 85 , 100 ], it has also been shown that the absence of such content in the curriculum leads to helplessness, anxiety, and altered career choices in dealing with this topic and should therefore be urgently included as a digital literacy in the compulsory medical school curriculum [ 84 , 88 ].…”

The Perception of Health Professionals in Bangladesh toward the Digitalization of the Health Sector

“…Several studies have investigated the attitudes of healthcare workforces worldwide and have mostly included students and doctors. Most studies that have investigated the attitudes of students toward AI and digital healthcare-based applications, tools and systems reported the positive mindset of students [ 20 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. However, in some studies, students were found to be pessimistic toward the digitization of health services [ 22 , 23 ].…”

“…Consequently, the entire digitalization effort has become stagnated. Inadequate digital health literacy and competency have been identified by several studies as the main obstacles to the digitization of healthcare in countries that have initiated the transformation [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Health professionals are the key players in the digital health system, and digitalization will change their roles and duties in an unprecedented way.…”

Knowledge and attitude of artificial intelligence (AI) technology among clinical researchers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…AI algorithms have been shown to be effective in a variety of medical professions, including radiology, ophthalmology, dermatology, pathology, and pulmonary medicine, according to studies (Gillissen et al, 2022).Any system that uses data processing and pattern recognition to simulate cognitive capabilities such as learning and problem solving is referred to as AI. As these systems move closer to clinical use, physicians must comprehend the fundamental concepts of AI in order to interpret the results correctly (Valikodath et al, 2021).Over the last few years, the clinical usage of AI systems in medicine has grown in popularity (Sur et al, 2020).…”