“I can no longer give take-home exams”: Health professionals educators’ experiences and perceptions regarding the use of artificial intelligence in health professions education in Uganda

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Artificial intelligence (AI) tools offer immense opportunities and challenges for medical education. However, there is limited information about the use of AI among health professional educators, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to explore the experiences and perceptions regarding AI use in health professional education. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We collected qualitative data using in-depth interviews with 19 health professional educators. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. We used Atlas Ti version 9.1 to organise the data. We used Braun and Clarke's six-step thematic analysis for data analysis. The study was approved by the Busitema University Research and Ethics Committee (BUFHS-2023-79). RESULTS: Three major themes were identified from the data: uptake and use of AI, perceived benefits of AI in health professional education, and concerns regarding AI use. We noted initial reluctance to support AI use, while its use varied from no or infrequent use to frequent use. Health professional educators used AI for various reasons, such as for teaching, student assessment, research, and personal work. AI was perceived to be beneficial in improving the clarity of writing, providing access to individual-tailored information, teaching, learning, and assessment, and research purposes. The barriers to AI use included a lack of institutional policies to guide AI use, limited capacity to afford paid AI versions, and reluctance to use AI. AI was seen to have inherent limitations, which included inaccurate information and a lack of contextual information for resource-limited settings. The fears of AI use included the risk of over-reliance on AI, academic misconduct, examination malpractice, ethical conflicts, and integrity. CONCLUSION: AI use in health professional education was perceived to have some benefits, amidst concerns that may derail its use in health professional education. The lack of policy and guidelines to govern the use of AI in health professions education underscores the need to develop policies and guidelines that safeguard and promote responsible and ethical use of AI.

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