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Exciting developments are underway at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University! Their Department of Digital Learning is revolutionising medical education with state-of-the-art AI and mixed reality applications. And guess what? Talented interns from the Diploma in Applied AI and Analytics (DAAA) and Diploma in Information Technology (DIT) courses are right in the thick of it, contributing to these groundbreaking projects.

Recently, Channel News Asia featured some of these innovative applications, showcasing how they are transforming the way future doctors and nurses learn. Imagine interactive, high-tech training sessions that make learning more immersive and effective—it’s like stepping into the future of healthcare education!

One of the standout features of these advancements is the use of virtual and augmented reality tools to simulate common medical procedures. These tools provide students with a hands-on, immersive learning experience that goes beyond traditional textbooks and lectures. By visualising and interacting with three-dimensional anatomical structures, students can gain a deeper understanding of complex concepts. This kind of training is invaluable for building confidence and competence in real-world scenarios.

Bryan Tan, a third-year DAAA student and intern at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, has made significant strides in the field of educational technology. The research paper which he is a co-author, titled “ChatGPT versus Customized AI Chatbot (Anatbuddy) for Anatomy Education,” has been published in the prestigious Anatomical Sciences Education journal. The study conducted by Bryan and his team delves into the comparative effectiveness of ChatGPT and their custom AI chatbot, Anatbuddy, in teaching anatomy. Utilsing Bloom’s Taxonomy framework, the research highlights the potential of AI-driven tools to revolutionize educational methodologies.

Ng Wee Hern, a DAAA intern, developed a question-answer bot using the Azure OpenAI GPT API. Initially, it extracted content from documents to generate questions and answers. To enhance it, Wee Hern added a feedback mechanism and implemented Socratic teaching methods, creating interactions between a teacher bot and a student bot. This approach aims to provide detailed feedback to students, making the bot a powerful educational tool.

In addition to virtual and augmented reality, the school is also harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to enhance medical education. AI is being used to help students accurately prescribe medication, providing immediate feedback and allowing for flexibility in correct answers. This mirrors real-life scenarios and helps students develop critical thinking and decision-making skills. The use of AI in this context not only enhances the learning process but also has the potential to significantly improve patient care by reducing errors and personalizing treatments. Thu Htet San and Calvin Lai, two interns from the DIT course, had the opportunity to collaborate with hospital clinicians to develop electronic medical records and staff training applications. They utilised their expertise in cloud platforms, handling both frontend and backend development.

These novel tools also help to cut down on the workload of educators. By providing more efficient and effective teaching methods, educators can focus more on personalized teaching and mentoring. This not only benefits the students but also makes life easier for the educators, allowing them to dedicate more time to individual student needs and less time to repetitive tasks.

Lam Kai Wen, a DAAA intern at LKCMedicine, excels in sourcing and managing data, creating insightful visualizations with PowerBI, and optimizing dashboards for performance and mobile use. His work ensures data is both accessible and impactful. Zachary Leong, also a DAAA intern at LKCMedicine, uses a semantic model to transform qualitative feedback into quantitative metrics, enabling data-driven decisions. Additionally, he works on MedQAbuddy, leveraging generative AI to streamline the creation, formatting, and validation of exam questions, enhancing efficiency for educators.

The collaboration between the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and Singapore Polytechnic is a great example of how interdisciplinary efforts can lead to significant advancements in education and healthcare. Interns from the DAAA and DIT courses bring their expertise in digital technologies, contributing to the development and implementation of these innovative tools. This partnership not only provides valuable real-world experience for the interns but also accelerates the pace of innovation in medical education.

The integration of AI and mixed reality into the curriculum is not just a glimpse into the future—it is happening now, and it is transforming the way we train our healthcare professionals.