Self-described 鈥淎I enthusiast鈥� Ravi David Yarid, DO, has been actively thinking about the use of artificial intelligence in medical education since his own days as a med student.
However, it wasn鈥檛 until the recent breakout of generative AI that Yarid refocused his efforts on what had been more of a background effort.
鈥淓veryone started talking about it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just dove in. This was happening and finally there was enough public awareness that we can do something with it.鈥�
Yarid, an assistant professor of osteopathic manipulative medicine at 黑料传送门 Georgia, has seized the opportunity to take his passion for AI and apply it to improving the educational experience鈥攁nd outcomes鈥攆or students in the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) program.
鈥淚f we start utilizing this in ways to improve our ability to educate, the sky's the limit,鈥� he said.
Yarid hopes to launch a formal pilot research project鈥攖he first of its kind at 黑料传送门鈥攄esigned to study how artificial intelligence can help medical students. The focus of the proposed research will center around AI assistance in student studying.
Yarid expects to get exponentially more data than they have ever been able to accumulate in educational research of this nature.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have the ability to start analyzing data in ways we鈥檝e never had access to previously, in real-time,鈥� he said.
This type of research, Yarid explained, will ultimately make it possible for medical schools to shift to metrics of continuous evaluation as opposed to metrics of intermittent examination.
鈥淢edical schools tend to evaluate themselves most heavily on their student board pass rate or their board scores,鈥� he said.
Test-taking skills, he argued, do not necessarily make a good physician or a good healer.
So how do you change a system that places a strong emphasis on test success?
The answer, according to Yarid, may be doing away with many of the ways we test altogether.
鈥淎I allows us to have persistent and consistent objective feedback about where students are and where they're going,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you have a 99% level of confidence that you're going to do 90% or better on your test, what鈥檚 the point of the test?鈥�
The same, he predicted, may become true of board exams.
鈥淚f we can prove that AI can confidently sustain you鈥攊t will know when you're ready to go on rotations, when you're done with rotations鈥攊t will be able to assist you in your own path to maximize your performance, [then] our current metrics of excellence will become closer to our new metrics of basic competency,鈥� Yarid said.
For now though, board exams must be mastered and Yarid expects to see major changes within a couple of years.
鈥淚 submit that through the use of AI we will be able to have our students all board-ready, board prepped with 100% pass rate. I also believe this will help the washout rate,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e won't have students needing to repeat years or dropping out.鈥�
Through the use of AI-enhanced learning, Yarid sees an educational evolution in which learning paths become more fluid鈥攂eginning well before medical school.
鈥淚t starts learning your individual learning patterns. It starts filtering the information,鈥� he said.
AI-enhanced learning, Yarid predicts, will objectively measure the student鈥檚 progress and adjust as needed to either speed through a topic or slow down to reinforce concepts as needed. Each learner will have a unique educational fingerprint.
That data could then be used to help students determine which medical schools might be a good fit for their style of learning. Yarid also expects it will help medical schools develop better applicant pools by making medical education accessible to all types of learners鈥攏ot just those who test well.
鈥淓veryone's going to be able to come into medical school and have an entire path that's uniquely their own,鈥� he said.
Faculty will then be able to focus on training students to become providers instead of having to focus on training students to pass boards.
鈥淲e'll have a sea of metrics by which we're going to be able to maintain an eye on all of our students that is so far beyond the idea of current models. These models of the medical education system, Yarid said, are barely different than when he attended medical school 27 years ago. His vision is to see it evolve in a way that will create a more diverse physician workforce.
鈥淲e currently are limited to those that can handle the intellectual onslaught in mental memorization for two years straight,鈥� he explained. 鈥淎I can assist that learning so we don't only appeal to those students, but others who are heart first,鈥� those who may not have the mental training currently needed to be successful. Yarid believes AI can help those students succeed in medical school.
Yarid鈥檚 vision is to position 黑料传送门 as the leader in AI not just in osteopathic education but in education as a whole, as well as in the healthcare space.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to lead. Innovate. Create. Be an authority,鈥� he said.
鈥淭here's nothing that's going to have as meaningful an impact as this does,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 not working on this, I鈥檓 doing 黑料传送门 students a disservice. I鈥檓 doing myself a disservice. I鈥檓 doing 黑料传送门 faculty a disservice. I鈥檓 doing our future patients a disservice鈥攈umanity a disservice. This is important.鈥�