New SDN Survey Sheds Light on AI Adoption Among Future Health Professionals

Originally published September 12, 2024. Organizational names and links have been updated to reflect the nonprofit’s current identity.

Future healthcare professionals want clearer and consistent guidelines about using generative artificial intelligence (genAI) tools in the classroom, clinic/workplace, and admissions/selection processes that address concerns about candidate authenticity and equity, according to a new survey from the Student Doctor Network, the publishers of the Student Doctor Network. 

While two-thirds of respondents consider themselves familiar or advanced users of genAI tools, one-quarter consider themselves novices or merely aware. Many respondents refuse to use genAI due to classroom policies or personal concerns about potential abuse or bias.

The survey captured prehealth and graduate students pursuing careers in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and other health professions. Diverse groups included socioeconomically disadvantaged students, underrepresented and overrepresented minorities, and nontraditional career changers.

While classroom and application policies discourage applicants from using genAI to create assignments or essays, students are concerned whether using genAI for editing tasks such as spelling, grammar, or sentence structure suggestions was also prohibited.

However, respondents have stated they are becoming more familiar with powerful efficiencies in transcribing meetings and notes, summarizing articles, or detecting subtle patterns during data analysis. Many rely on genAI templates to communicate with references for letters of recommendation or admissions offices for application updates. Others are using genAI to prepare for interviews and get information to compare programs.

“This first snapshot of genAI use among applicants and students in the health professions should help inform faculty and admissions professionals when drafting policies that explicitly allow or deny genAI usage. While most applicants are comfortable using genAI, many others take seriously the application service statements that explicitly state genAI usage in any form is unacceptable,” says Emil Chuck, Director of Advising Services and Principal Investigator of the survey. “Future analysis should look at how underresourced populations could leverage genAI to prepare a competitive application.”

Read more about the survey findings on the Student Doctor Network.