Knowledge, attitude, and practice of artificial intelligence among doctors and medical students in Syria: A cross-sectional online survey
Open accessAbstract
Artificial intelligence has been prevalent recently as its use in the medical field is noticed to be increased. However, middle east countries like Syria are deficient in multiple AI implementation methods in the field of medicine. So, holding these AI implementation methods in the medical field is necessary, which may be incredibly beneficial for making diagnosis more accessible and help in the treatment. This paper intends to determine AI's knowledge, attitude, and practice among doctors and medical students in Syria. A questionnaire conducted an online cross-sectional study on the google form website consisting of demographic data, knowledge, and perception of AI. There were 1,494 responses from both doctors and medical students. We included Syrian medical students and doctors who are currently residing in Syria. Of the 1,494 participants, 255 (16.9%) are doctors, while the other 1,252 (83.1%) are undergraduate medical students. About 1,055 (70%) participants have previous knowledge about AI. However, only 357 (23.7%) participants know about its application in the medical field. Most have shown positive attitudes toward its necessity in the medical field; 689 (45.7%) individuals strongly agree, and 628 (41.7%) agree. The undergraduate students had 3.327 times more adequate knowledge of AI than students in the first year. In contrast, the undergraduate 6th-year students had 2.868 times the attitude toward AI higher than students in the first year. The residents and assistant professors had 2.371 and 4.422 times the practice of AI higher than students, respectively. Although most physicians and medical students do not sufficiently understand AI and its significance in the medical field, they have favorable views regarding using AI in the medical field. Syrian medical authorities and international organizations should suggest including artificial intelligence in the medical field, particularly when training residents and fellowship physicians.
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Swed et al. found that 1,286 out of 1,484 participants (85%) favored including AI training in the curriculum.
“Swed et al. found that 1,286 out of 1,484 participants (85%) favored including AI training in the curriculum [42].”
From Is it time to introduce an artificial intelligence curriculum in undergraduate medical education? medical students’ perspectives: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2026) · cites this paper as [42]
Table 6 (Results > Attitude toward AI; page unavailable) reports 680 agreeing and 606 strongly agreeing that AI should be included in medical-school curricula and specialist training—a total of 1,286, or about 85% using the table’s percentages. The Methods section gives a total sample size of 1,484, but the responses to this question sum to 1,507; 1,286 out of 1,484 is about 87%, not 85%. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThis review incorporates evidence from LMICs, illuminating context-specific challenges such as the post-war healthcare environment in Syria and curriculum constraints in Nepal.
“this review incorporates evidence from LMICs, thereby illuminating context-specific challenges such as the post-war healthcare environment in Syria [42] and curriculum constraints in Nepal [47].”
Despite enthusiasm about integrating AI in HPE and increased research, there is a lack of basic literacy and understanding of AI technology among HPE students.
“Despite enthusiasm about integrating AI in HPE and the increased amount of research on this topic, there is a lack of basic literacy and understanding of AI technology among HPE students [6, 17–20].”
From Shaping the future: perspectives on the Integration of Artificial Intelligence in health profession education: a multi-country survey (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
The same Syrian study found 45.7% showed positive attitudes toward learning about AI in medicine.
“although 45.7% showed positive attitudes toward learning about AI in medicine [19].”
From Shaping the future: perspectives on the Integration of Artificial Intelligence in health profession education: a multi-country survey (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
A cross-sectional study involving medical students from Syria (N = 1,494) found only 23% had basic AI knowledge.
“A cross-sectional study involving medical students from Syria (N = 1,494) found only 23% had basic AI knowledge”
From Shaping the future: perspectives on the Integration of Artificial Intelligence in health profession education: a multi-country survey (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
Our results on positive attitudes toward AI were consistent with previous studies from Arab countries including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and the KSA.
“Our results were consistent with previous studies from Arab countries including Lebanon [25], , Syria [19], Jordan [20], Egypt [33], and the KSA [26].”
From Shaping the future: perspectives on the Integration of Artificial Intelligence in health profession education: a multi-country survey (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
Participants in all of the above studies expressed enthusiasm and positive attitudes toward integrating AI in educational curricula and readiness to learn about AI.
“Interestingly, participants in all of the above studies expressed enthusiasm and positive attitudes toward integrating AI in educational curricula and readiness to learn about AI.”
From Shaping the future: perspectives on the Integration of Artificial Intelligence in health profession education: a multi-country survey (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
Similar studies among medical students from different Arab countries also showed low levels of knowledge in basic AI concepts.
“Similar studies among medical students from different Arab countries also showed low levels of knowledge in basic AI concepts.”
From Shaping the future: perspectives on the Integration of Artificial Intelligence in health profession education: a multi-country survey (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
The Nurses' AI knowledge questionnaire had internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha of 0.795, as reported by Swed et al.
“The tool's internal consistency of the used sub-scales was shown by Cronbach's alpha values of 0.795, as reported by Swed et al. 22”
From Exploring nurses’ awareness and attitudes toward artificial intelligence: implications for nursing practice (2024) · cites this paper as [22]
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Influential
- Authors
- Swed, S., Alibrahim, H., Elkalagi, N. K. H., Nasif, M. N., Rais, M. A., Nashwan, A. J., Aljabali, A., Elsayed, M., Sawaf, B., Albuni, M. K., Battikh, E., Elsharif, L. A. M., Ahmed, S. M. A., Ahmed, E. M. S., Othman, Z. A., Alsaleh, A., & Shoib, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Aleppo (SY)
- Arish University (EG)
- Hamad Medical Corporation (QA)
- Jordan University of Science and Technology (JO)
- Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (DE)
- Red Sea University (SD)
- Shendi University (SD)
- Nile Valley University (SD)
- Homs University (SY)
- Damascus University (SY)
- Corresponding author
- Nashwan, Abdulqadir J.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2022-09-29
- Volume
- 5
- Pages
- 1011524-1011524
- ISSN
- 2624-8212 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9558737
- OpenAlex
- W4298006199
- Cited by
- 185
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 61 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 51 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 9.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Greater South Information System
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Artificial Intelligence Applications
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
- Keywords
- artificial intelligence in healthcare, knowledge, attitudes and practices, medical students, physicians, clinical implementation of AI, residency training, AI literacy
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