Students in health-related fields are benefitting from generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in many areas of learning, but concerns about critical thinking and reduced peer interaction have come to light in a new systematic review conducted by Monash University.
The review, led by researchers from Monash's Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (FPPS) and published in Medical Education, revealed the prevalence of GenAI use across six learning types in health professions education, and found it supports learning most frequently in practice (73 per cent), inquiry (70 per cent), production (67 per cent) and acquisition (55 per cent).
However, 'discussion' and 'collaboration' were less represented (12 per cent each), suggesting a shift toward more individualised learning with GenAI, and raising the question of whether it promotes individualised learning at the expense of human interaction.
The systematic review included 33 original peer-reviewed research papers that focussed on the application of GenAI technologies within formal health professions education training programs across medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary and pharmacy.
First author and FPPS PhD candidate, Thai Duong Pham, said the review is important as it explores how GenAI may be encouraging more active forms of learning among students, reducing reliance on teachers, reshaping classroom dynamics and challenging traditional learning structures.
"The higher percentage of papers discussing inquiry, practice, acquisition and production suggests that GenAI is being primarily used to support personalised, self-directed learning, rather than promoting group interaction through discussion and collaboration, which were discussed far less frequently," Mr Pham said.
"Recent advancements in AI offer enhanced tools for educational applications, particularly in content generation and multi-model learning. However, there remains a significant gap in understanding how to productively and responsibly incorporate GenAI into health professions education practices."
"Our hope is that this review offers a better understanding of how healthcare students engage with GenAI and helps to inform what educators need to do to guide students and ensure those 'soft skills' centred around human interaction are not lost."
One such program – ATLAS (Authentic Teaching and Learning through Adaptive Simulations) – is an educator-driven AI tool created by the Director of the Monash Innovation Guarantee within the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Student Experience), Dr Joel Moore, which fosters real-life interactions and enables students to practice and develop critical thinking skills through an AI-driven simulation environment.
Although broadly applicable across multiple areas of education, the FPPS team is using it to enhance pharmacy education programs.
One of the FPPS academics leading the ATLAS initiative, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Course Director Dr Angelina Lim, said ATLAS is designed to enhance teaching quality by bridging traditional skills with competencies such as teamwork, adaptability and interpersonal skills.
"The ATLAS platform is being widely integrated across pharmacy units, particularly in infectious diseases where it's helping students to develop advocacy skills for responsible antibiotic use and competence in managing common infections such as urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted infections, and ear infections," Dr Lim said.
"With pharmacist prescribing now being rolled out across Victoria, teaching students these skills is more important than ever." Dr Lim has worked alongside Ms Emily Stokes, also an FPPS Senior Lecturer, to harness ATLAS and improve soft skills including clinical communication and having difficult conversations.
Dr Lim said the systematic review is the first step in knowing what to do next with AI.
"As highlighted in the Medical Education systematic review, there is an urgent need for new tools that harness AI to address gaps in current AI-driven education, especially our ability to work as a team, adapt to different environments and challenges, and effectively interact and communicate with peers and patients."
The Medical Education study, The impact of generative AI on health professional education: A systematic review in the context of student learning can be found here.
