Frontiers in Public Health (Dec 2021)

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: A Multinational Multi-Center Survey on the Medical and Dental Students' Perception

  • Sotirios Bisdas,
  • Sotirios Bisdas,
  • Constantin-Cristian Topriceanu,
  • Zosia Zakrzewska,
  • Alexandra-Valentina Irimia,
  • Loizos Shakallis,
  • Jithu Subhash,
  • Maria-Madalina Casapu,
  • Jose Leon-Rojas,
  • Daniel Pinto dos Santos,
  • Dilys Miriam Andrews,
  • Claudia Zeicu,
  • Ahmad Mohammad Bouhuwaish,
  • Avinindita Nura Lestari,
  • Lua'i Abu-Ismail,
  • Arsal Subbah Sadiq,
  • Almu'atasim Khamees,
  • Khaled M. G. Mohammed,
  • Estelle Williams,
  • Aya Ibrahim Omran,
  • Dima Y. Abu Ismail,
  • Esraa Hasan Ebrahim

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.795284
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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Background: The emerging field of artificial intelligence (AI) will probably affect the practice for the next generation of doctors. However, the students' views on AI have not been largely investigated.Methods: An anonymous electronic survey on AI was designed for medical and dental students to explore: (1) sources of information about AI, (2) AI applications and concerns, (3) AI status as a topic in medicine, and (4) students' feelings and attitudes. The questionnaire was advertised on social media platforms in 2020. Security measures were employed to prevent fraudulent responses. Mann-Whitney U-test was employed for all comparisons. A sensitivity analysis was also performed by binarizing responses to express disagreement and agreement using the Chi-squared test.Results: Three thousand one hundred thirty-three respondents from 63 countries from all continents were included. Most respondents reported having at least a moderate understanding of the technologies underpinning AI and of their current application, with higher agreement associated with being male (p < 0.0001), tech-savvy (p < 0.0001), pre-clinical student (p < 0.006), and from a developed country (p < 0.04). Students perceive AI as a partner rather than a competitor (72.2%) with a higher agreement for medical students (p = 0.002). The belief that AI will revolutionize medicine and dentistry (83.9%) with greater agreement for students from a developed country (p = 0.0004) was noted. Most students agree that the AI developments will make medicine and dentistry more exciting (69.9%), that AI shall be part of the medical training (85.6%) and they are eager to incorporate AI in their future practice (99%).Conclusion: Currently, AI is a hot topic in medicine and dentistry. Students have a basic understanding of AI principles, a positive attitude toward AI and would like to have it incorporated into their training.

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