Perception of Medical Speciality Professors towards Including Artificial Intelligence in their Curricula

Medical residents have shown interest in artificial intelligence (AI) for their clinical and academic activities; however, research on the perception of speciality professors regarding AI is lacking.

To estimate the proportion of medical professors who perceive it necessary to include AI in the curricula of their specialities, along with their self-efficacy, perceived benefits and identified barriers to AI tools.

Cross-sectional study of 108 medical speciality professors in Monterrey, Mexico, in June 2024. We sent them a self-administered questionnaire that included questions about the professors' perceptions of the need to incorporate AI in the specialities' curricula, their self-efficacy, benefits, barriers to AI and other variables. We estimated relative frequencies, 95% confidence intervals (CI), measures of central tendency and dispersion. Self-efficacy, benefits and barriers scores were compared by interest variables using the Mann-Whitney or Student's t-tests. P < 0.05 was significant.

Ninety-eight professors (90.7%, 95% CI: 85.3-96.2) considered it necessary to incorporate AI into their academic programmes. Self-efficacy scores were higher among those working in the private sector and those with a course, workshop or diploma in AI. In addition, those with a master's degree or a doctorate, who had completed a course, workshop or diploma, showed higher benefits scores.

Nine out of ten professors of medical specialities believe it is necessary to include AI in their curricula, with a high perception of its self-efficacy and benefits. Academic authorities in medical specialisation should examine the growing integration of AI in modern educational environments.