School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.
Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia.
PLoS One. 2023 Aug 31;18(8):e0290642. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290642. eCollection 2023.
Surveys conducted internationally have found widespread interest in artificial intelligence (AI) amongst medical students. No similar surveys have been conducted in Western Australia (WA) and it is not known how medical students in WA feel about the use of AI in healthcare or their understanding of AI. We aim to assess WA medical students' attitudes towards AI in general, AI in healthcare, and the inclusion of AI education in the medical curriculum.
A digital survey instrument was developed based on a review of available literature and consultation with subject matter experts. The survey was piloted with a group of medical students and refined based on their feedback. We then sent this anonymous digital survey to all medical students in WA (approximately 1539 students). Responses were open from the 7th of September 2021 to the 7th of November 2021. Students' categorical responses were qualitatively analysed, and free text comments from the survey were qualitatively analysed using open coding techniques.
Overall, 134 students answered one or more questions (8.9% response rate). The majority of students (82.0%) were 20-29 years old, studying medicine as a postgraduate degree (77.6%), and had started clinical rotations (62.7%). Students were interested in AI (82.6%), self-reported having a basic understanding of AI (84.8%), but few agreed that they had an understanding of the basic computational principles of AI (33.3%) or the limitations of AI (46.2%). Most students (87.5%) had not received teaching in AI. The majority of students (58.6%) agreed that AI should be part of medical training and most (72.7%) wanted more teaching focusing on AI in medicine. Medical students appeared optimistic regarding the role of AI in medicine, with most (74.4%) agreeing with the statement that AI will improve medicine in general. The majority (56.6%) of medical students were not concerned about the impact of AI on their job security as a doctor. Students selected radiology (72.6%), pathology (58.2%), and medical administration (44.8%) as the specialties most likely to be impacted by AI, and psychiatry (61.2%), palliative care (48.5%), and obstetrics and gynaecology (41.0%) as the specialties least likely to be impacted by AI. Qualitative analysis of free text comments identified the use of AI as a tool, and that doctors will not be replaced as common themes.
Medical students in WA appear to be interested in AI. However, they have not received education about AI and do not feel they understand its basic computational principles or limitations. AI appears to be a current deficit in the medical curriculum in WA, and most students surveyed were supportive of its introduction. These results are consistent with previous surveys conducted internationally.
国际调查发现，医学生对人工智能（AI）普遍感兴趣。在西澳大利亚（WA）尚未进行类似的调查，也不知道 WA 的医学生对 AI 在医疗保健中的应用有何看法，以及他们对 AI 的理解程度。我们旨在评估 WA 医学生对 AI 的总体态度、AI 在医疗保健中的应用，以及在医学课程中纳入 AI 教育。
根据现有文献的回顾和主题专家的咨询，我们开发了一个数字调查工具。我们对一组医学生进行了试点调查，并根据他们的反馈进行了改进。然后，我们向 WA 的所有医学生（约 1539 名学生）发送了这份匿名数字调查。从 2021 年 9 月 7 日到 11 月 7 日，学生可以回复。学生的分类回答进行了定性分析，调查中的自由文本评论也使用开放式编码技术进行了定性分析。
总的来说，有 134 名学生回答了一个或多个问题（8.9%的回复率）。大多数学生（82.0%）年龄在 20-29 岁之间，攻读研究生医学学位（77.6%），并开始临床轮转（62.7%）。学生对 AI 感兴趣（82.6%），自我报告对 AI 有基本的了解（84.8%），但只有少数人认为自己了解 AI 的基本计算原理（33.3%）或 AI 的局限性（46.2%）。大多数学生（87.5%）没有接受过 AI 教学。大多数学生（58.6%）认为 AI 应该成为医学培训的一部分，大多数学生（72.7%）希望更多地教授医学领域的 AI。医学生对 AI 在医学中的作用表现出乐观态度，大多数学生（74.4%）同意 AI 将普遍改善医学的说法。大多数医学生（56.6%）并不担心 AI 对他们作为医生的工作安全的影响。学生们选择放射科（72.6%）、病理学（58.2%）和医疗管理（44.8%）作为最有可能受到 AI 影响的专业，而精神病学（61.2%）、姑息治疗（48.5%）和妇产科（41.0%）作为最不可能受到 AI 影响的专业。对自由文本评论的定性分析确定了将 AI 用作工具，以及医生不会被取代是常见主题。
WA 的医学生似乎对 AI 感兴趣。然而，他们没有接受过 AI 教育，也不认为自己了解其基本计算原理或局限性。AI 似乎是 WA 医学课程中的一个当前缺陷，大多数接受调查的学生都支持引入 AI。这些结果与之前在国际上进行的调查一致。
