Cited by 131Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and EducationInnovations in Medical EducationArtificial Intelligence in Education

AI in medical education: medical student perception, curriculum recommendations and design suggestions

Open access
Li, Qianying, Qin, Yunhao·2023·BMC Medical Education

Abstract

Medical AI has transformed modern medicine and created a new environment for future doctors. However, medical education has failed to keep pace with these advances, and it is essential to provide systematic education on medical AI to current medical undergraduate and postgraduate students. To address this issue, our study utilized the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model to identify key factors that influence the acceptance and intention to use medical AI. We collected data from 1,243 undergraduate and postgraduate students from 13 universities and 33 hospitals, and 54.3% reported prior experience using medical AI. Our findings indicated that medical postgraduate students have a higher level of awareness in using medical AI than undergraduate students. The intention to use medical AI is positively associated with factors such as performance expectancy, habit, hedonic motivation, and trust. Therefore, future medical education should prioritize promoting students’ performance in training, and courses should be designed to be both easy to learn and engaging, ensuring that students are equipped with the necessary skills to succeed in their future medical careers.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This study applied the UTAUT2 model to survey Chinese medical undergraduates and postgraduates about acceptance and intention to use medical AI. Performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, habit, and trust positively predicted intention to use medical AI, while several other UTAUT2 factors were not significant.

Key findings

  • Among 1,243 respondents from 13 universities and 33 hospitals, 54.3% reported prior experience using medical AI; postgraduates reported more experience (75.0%) than undergraduates (59.5%, χ2 = 24.4, p < 0.001).
  • Significant positive predictors of behavioral intention were performance expectancy (β = 0.146, p < 0.001), hedonic motivation (β = 0.237, p < 0.001), habit (β = 0.388, p < 0.001), and trust (β = 0.276, p < 0.001); behavioral intention also predicted user behavior (β = 0.927, p < 0.001).
  • Effort expectancy (β = -0.068, p = 0.101), social influence (β = 0.041, p = 0.346), price value (β = -0.089, p = 0.068), facilitating conditions (β = 0.007, p = 0.895), and technology fear (β = -0.012, p = 0.585) were not significant.
  • Measurement model statistics were acceptable: Cronbach’s α 0.833–0.916, composite reliability 0.895–0.947, AVE 0.623–0.856, and all HTMT values below 0.9.

Methods

  • Cross-sectional online survey based on UTAUT2, including 38 five-point Likert items across 10 factors; participants were fourth- and fifth-year medical undergraduates and all-grade medical postgraduates, recruited via Wen Juan Xing, WeChat, and the web from 13 universities and 33 hospitals.
  • Data analysis used partial least squares in SmartPLS 4.0 for path coefficients; Cronbach’s α, composite reliability, AVE, and HTMT for reliability/validity; chi-square tests in SPSS 26.0 for demographic comparisons.
  • The results report that 675 respondents with experience of medical AI completed the survey and were analyzed.

Limitations

  • Stated: the online voluntary survey may have attracted students already interested in the topic; data came from 33 hospitals and 11 universities in seven provinces, so generalization to all of China should be cautious; because systematic medical AI education was lacking, participants’ attitudes were shaped by the specific medical AI tools they encountered.
  • Evident: the paper reports 13 universities in the abstract/methods but 11 universities in the limitations, an inconsistency in the text.
  • Evident: the cross-sectional design and self-reported measures cannot establish causality or objectively verify AI use.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1186/s12909-023-04700-8

Cites

30 of 30 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

0 of 7 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Findingown data

    Facilitating conditions had no significant effect on behavioral intention to use medical AI (path coefficient 0.007, p = 0.895).

    “H7. Facilitating Conditions → Behavioral Intention | 0.007 (ns) | 0.895”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Hedonic motivation had a positive influence on behavioral intention to use medical AI (path coefficient 0.237, p < 0.001).

    “H4. Hedonic Motivation → Behavioral Intention | 0.237 | 0.000***”
    • Also stated in: § Results · plain
      “which showed that performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, habit, and trust had a positive influence on the intention to use medical AI.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    There was no significant difference between sex and self-evaluation of experience of using AI and medical AI.

    “There was no significant difference between sex and self-evaluation of their experience of using AI and medical AI (χ2 = 0.02, p = 0.886).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Habit had a positive influence on behavioral intention to use medical AI (path coefficient 0.388, p < 0.001).

    “H6. Habit → Behavioral Intention | 0.388 | 0.000***”
    • Also stated in: § Results · plain
      “which showed that performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, habit, and trust had a positive influence on the intention to use medical AI.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Behavioral intention had a positive effect on usage behavior (path coefficient 0.927, p < 0.001).

    “H10. Behavioral Intention → User Behavior | 0.927 | 0.000***”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims. 4
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 2
  • May combine two claims. The quote only partly states this claim.

    Study design and conductown data

    The measurement model showed acceptable internal consistency and convergent validity, with Cronbach's α ranging from 0.833 to 0.916, composite reliability from 0.895 to 0.947, and AVE from 0.623 to 0.856.

    “Table 1 showed the calculated values of Cronbach’s α, which ranged from 0.833 to 0.916, while CR varied in the range of 0.895–0.947 and AVE ranged from 0.623 to 0.856.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    The results should be generalized to the whole of China with caution because the data came from 33 hospitals and 11 universities in seven provinces.

    “Secondly, while our data was collected from 33 hospitals and 11 universities in seven provinces of China, caution should be exercised when generalizing the results to the entire country.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The participants' perspectives are shaped by their interactions with the specific medical AI tools they use in routine practice, producing a spectrum of attitudes toward different medical AI applications.

    “Consequently, the perspectives conveyed by the participants are inevitably shaped by their interactions with the specific medical AI tools they engage with in their routine practices. This variation in exposure has inherently led to a spectrum of attitudes towards different medical AI applications.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductnone given

    The online survey method and voluntary participation may have introduced a bias by attracting only students interested in the subject matter.

    “Firstly, the online survey method and voluntary participation may have introduced a bias by only attracting students interested in the subject matter.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    The intention to use a technology directly predicts actual usage.

    “Its core principle is that the intention to use technology directly predicts actual usage [19].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [19] Cabrera-Sánchez J-P, Villarejo-Ramos ÁF, Liébana-Cabanillas F, Shaikh AA. Identifying relevant segments of AI applications adopters – expanding the UTAUT2’s variables. Telematics Inform. 2021;58:101529. source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Medical students are often not familiar with AI and may be worried about the potential for job loss.

    “Previous studies have shown that medical students are often not familiar with AI and may be worried about the potential for job loss [13–15].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [13] Pinto Dos Santos D, Giese D, Brodehl S, Chon SH, Staab W, Kleinert R, Maintz D, Baessler B. Medical students’ attitude towards artificial intelligence: a multicentre survey. Eur Radiol. 2019;29(4):1640–6. source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [14] Bisdas S, Topriceanu CC, Zakrzewska Z, Irimia AV, Shakallis L, Subhash J, Casapu MM, Leon-Rojas J, Pinto Dos Santos D, Andrews DM, et al. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: a multinational Multi-Center Survey on the Medical and Dental Students’ perception. Front Public Health. 2021;9:795284. source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [15] Oh S, Kim JH, Choi SW, Lee HJ, Hong J, Kwon SH. Physician confidence in Artificial Intelligence: an Online Mobile Survey. J Med Internet Res. 2019;21(3):e12422. source

      Not checked in the free run.

6 of 6
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    There is currently a lack of research exploring the significance of medical AI within the context of medical education in China.

    “Moreover, there is currently a lack of research exploring the significance of medical AI within the context of medical education in China.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    There has been limited research on the acceptance and intention to use medical AI among medical undergraduate and postgraduate students.

    “However, there has been limited research on the acceptance and intention to use medical AI among medical undergraduate and postgraduate students.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    A limited number of medical schools in China had incorporated medical AI into their curriculum for students.

    “Furthermore, a limited number of medical schools in China had incorporated medical AI into their curriculum for students.”
3 of 3

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Contributions elaborated mainly or solely by medical students strongly call for the inclusion of AI education in medical curricula; students were enthusiastic about learning AI and recognized its crucial role in the future of medicine, but reported a lack of formal AI training and insufficient AI-related learning opportunities; researchers and educators also demanded inclusion of AI in medical Cur

    “Finally, contributions elaborated mainly or solely by medical students strongly call for the inclusion of AI education in medical curricula [50–54]. Students were enthusiastic about learning AI and recognized its crucial role in the future of medicine [45, 55]. However, they reported a lack of formal AI training and insufficient AI-related learning opportunities in their medical education [46, 56,”

    From Artificial intelligence in undergraduate medical education: an updated scoping review (2025) · cites this paper as [55]

    Split into 3 atoms — 0 confirmed, 3 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • University count changes from 13 to 11

    Minor

    The results say the survey included students from 13 universities, but the limitations section says the data came from 11 universities.

  • H10 concerns distance education rather than medical AI

    Minor

    The paper says all 10 hypotheses concern medical AI, but H10 instead specifies usage behavior in distance education systems.

2 of 2

Cites

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Authors
Li, Q., & Qin, Y.
Affiliations
Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
Corresponding author
Qin, Yunhao
Venue
BMC Medical Education
Published
2023-11-09
Volume
23
Issue
1
Pages
852-852
ISSN
1472-6920 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4388522403
Cited by
131
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 53 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 1
FWCI
5.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • BMC Medical Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
National Natural Science Foundation of China (8180090624)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Artificial Intelligence in Education
Keywords
artificial intelligence in healthcare, medical students, technology acceptance, UTAUT, intention to use, trust in AI, performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, habit, undergraduate vs graduate students, curriculum development, AI awareness
MeSH terms
Curriculum, Education, Medical, Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Humans, Perception, Students, Medical

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