Impact of artificial intelligence on learning outcomes among medical students

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Pharmacology, Sri Venkateshwaraa Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Puducherry, India.

2 Department of Community Medicine, Sri Venkateshwaraa Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, Chennai, India.

Abstract

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming integral to medical practice. This study aimed to assess the impact of AI on learning outcomes among medical students and their understanding of its applications in medical education at a tertiary care teaching hospital in India.
Method: After obtaining Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) approval, a cross-sectional observational study was conducted between January 2025 to March 2025 over two weeks at a tertiary care teaching hospital among 500 Batchelor of Medicine and Batchelor of Surgery (MBBS) students from various academic years. A self- structured, pre-validated questionnaire was used to collect data. Convenience sampling was employed, participation was voluntary with informed consent, and confidentiality was maintained. Data were analysed using SPSS version 27.0, with results expressed as mean ± standard deviation and n (percentage).
Results: The study included 500 MBBS students (mean age 20.8 ± 1.9 years; 62% female, 38% male) from all years of study. Perceptions of AI in medicine included its role in advancing the field (36%), delivering accurate results (28%), providing lifestyle-based preventive recommendations (42%), aiding diagnosis (37%), generating prescriptions (33%), and designing personalized treatments (35%), with fewer seeing it offering emotional support (18%) or replacing psychiatric counselling (15%). Common AI uses were academic learning (37%), assignments (25%), research (21%), diagnosis (19%), treatment exploration (15%), and other purposes (8%).
Conclusion: A significant proportion of medical students acknowledged the potential of AI in advancing the medical field and supporting diagnostic and treatment-related functions, and role in replacing physicians, indicating the need for enhanced awareness, training, and integration strategies to optimize AI adoption in medical education and practice.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Shelmerdine SC, Rosendahl K, Arthurs OJ. Artificial intelligence in paediatric radiology: international survey of health care professionals' opinions. Pediatr Radiol. 2022; 52:30-41. 10.1007/s00247-021-05195-5
  2. Ramesh AN, Kambhampati C, Monson JR, Drew PJ. Artificial intelligence in medicine. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2004; 86:334-8. 10.1308/147870804290
  3. Ávila-Tomás JF, Mayer-Pujadas MA, Quesada-Varela VJ Artificial intelligence and its applications in medicine II: current importance and practical applications (Article in Spanish). Aten Primaria. 2021; 53:81- 8. 10.1016/j.aprim.2020.04.014
  4. Karimi A, HaddadPajouh H. Artificial intelligence, important assistant of scientists and physicians. Galen Med J. 2020; 9:e2048. 10.31661/gmj.v9i0.2048
  5. Komasawa N, Nakano T, Terasaki F, Kawata R. Attitude Survey toward Artificial Intelligence in Medicine among Japanese Medical Students. Bull Osaka Med Pharm Univ. 2021; 67(1):9-16.4.
  6. Pinto Dos Santos D, Giese D, Brodehl S, Chon SH, Staab W, Kleinert R, et al. Medical students' attitude towards artificial intelligence: a multicentre survey. Eur Radiol. 2019; 29(4):1640-6.
  7. Swed S, Alibrahim H, Elkalagi NKH, Nasif MN, Rais MA, Nashwan AJ, et al. Knowledge, attitude, and practice of artificial intelligence among doctors and medical students in Syria: A cross-sectional online survey. Front Artif Intell [Internet]. 2022 Sep 29; 5:1011524. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9558737/
  8. Patel VL, Shortliffe EH, Stefanelli M, Szolovits P, Berthold MR, Bellazzi R, et al. The coming of age of artificial intelligence in medicine. Artif Intell Med [Internet]. 2009 May;46(1):5–17. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0933365708000961
  9. Alami H, Rivard L, Lehoux P, Hoffman SJ, Cadeddu SBM, Savoldelli M, et al. Artificial intelligence in health care: laying the Foundation for Responsible, sustainable, and inclusive innovation in low- and middle-income countries. Global Health. 2020 Jun 24;16(1).
  10. Woźniacka A, Patrzyk S, Mikołajczyk M. Artificial intelligence in medicine and dermatology. Advances in Dermatology and Allergology. 2021; 38(6):948–52.
  11. Katznelson G, Gerke S. The need for health AI ethics in medical school education. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2021; 26(4):1447-58.
  12. Swed S, Alibrahim H, Elkalagi NK, Nasif MN, Rais MA, Nashwan AJ, et al. Knowledge, attitude, and practice of artificial intelligence among doctors and medical students in Syria: a cross-sectional online survey. Front Artif Intell. 2022 Sep 29; 5:1011524.
  13. Ahmed Z, Bhinder KK, Tariq A, Tahir MJ, Mehmood Q, Tabassum MS, et al. Knowledge, attitude, and practice of artificial intelligence among doctors and medical students in Pakistan: A cross-sectional online survey. Ann Med Surg2022 Apr 1; 76:103493.
  14. Jindal A, Bansal M. Knowledge and education about artificial intelligence among medical students from teaching institutions of India: a brief survey. MedEdPublish. 2020 Sep 16; 9:200.
  15. Sit C, Srinivasan R, Amlani A, Muthuswamy K, Azam A, Monzon L, et al. Attitudes and perceptions of UK medical students towards artificial intelligence and radiology: a multicentre survey. Insights Imaging. 2020 Feb 5;11(1):14.
  16. Perrier E, Rifai M, Terzic A, Dubois C, Cohen JF. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards artificial intelligence among young pediatricians: A nationwide survey in France. Front Pediatr. 2022 Dec 23; 10:1065957.
  17. Al Saad MM, Shehadeh A, Alanazi S, Alenezi M, Eid H, Alfaouri MS, et al. Medical students’ knowledge and attitude towards artificial intelligence: an online survey. Open Public Health J. 2022 May 24;15(1).
  18. Mousavi Baigi SF, Sarbaz M, Ghaddaripouri K, Ghaddaripouri M, Mousavi AS, Kimiafar K. Attitudes, knowledge, and skills towards artificial intelligence among healthcare students: A systematic review. Health Sci Rep. 2023 Mar;6(3):e1138.
  19. Chen M, Zhang B, Cai Z, Seery S, Gonzalez MJ, Ali NM, et al. Acceptance of clinical artificial intelligence among physicians and medical students: a systematic review with cross-sectional survey. Front Med. 2022 Aug 31;9:990604.
  20. De Simone B, Abu-Zidan FM, Gumbs AA, Chouillard E, Di Saverio S, Sartelli M, et al. Knowledge, attitude, and practice of artificial intelligence in emergency and trauma surgery, the ARIES project: an international web-based survey. WorldJ Emerg Surg. 2022 Feb 10;17(1):10.
  21. Jha N, Shankar PR, Al-Betar MA, Mukhia R, Hada K, Palaian S. Undergraduate medical students’ and interns’ knowledge and perception of artificial intelligence in medicine. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2022 Aug 23; 13:927.
  22. Civaner MM, Uncu Y, Bulut F, Chalil EG, Tatli A. Artificial intelligence in medical education: a cross-sectional needs assessment. BMC Med Educ. 2022 Nov 9;22(1):772.
Future of Medical Education Journal
Volume 15, Issue 3
Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence
September 2025
Pages 10-15

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics