Reimagining Continuous Professional Development for Physicians in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
• Continuing Professional Development

Background:

• Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming medical practice, impacting clinician learning, reasoning, communication, and patient care.
• Physician expertise encompasses cognitive skills, technical abilities, and crucial human capacities like empathy, ethics, and trust-building.
• Existing continuing professional development (CPD) models, designed pre-AI, often prioritize knowledge acquisition over clinical reasoning, which is now augmented by AI-clinician collaboration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a framework for reshaping continuing professional development (CPD) to support physicians in the era of AI-enabled healthcare.
• To integrate AI not just as a subject but as a catalyst for evolving how physicians learn, reason, and provide care.
• To foster the coevolution of individual and organizational learning for effective and responsible AI adoption in medicine.

Main Methods:

• Introduction of the Technical Understanding, Critical Appraisal, and Practical Application × Dual-Axis model.
• This conceptual framework integrates three domains of AI competency: Technical Understanding, Critical Appraisal, and Practical Application.
• The model incorporates organizational adoption and implementation strategies focusing on governance, infrastructure, and culture.

Main Results:

• The proposed framework links individual AI literacy and fluency with institutional capabilities to establish a foundation for responsible AI in medicine.
• Reimagining CPD with AI enables clinicians to develop adaptive expertise.
• This approach supports clinicians in remaining clinically competent, ethically grounded, and compassionate while working with AI.

Conclusions:

• Continuing professional development (CPD) must evolve to equip physicians for AI-integrated healthcare.
• The Technical Understanding, Critical Appraisal, and Practical Application × Dual-Axis model provides a structure for this evolution.
• Integrating AI into CPD is crucial for maintaining high standards of care, preserving humanistic aspects of medicine, and ensuring responsible AI implementation.