Integration of Artificial Intelligence Into a Medical Curriculum: Evolving Student Perceptions and Faculty Development Challenges.

Authors

Kinner L Flaglor, Gabrielle Rueff, Paul Monaco, Antonio E Rusinol, Mark Hernandez

Published in

Cureus. Volume 18. Issue 5. Pages e109621. Epub May 25, 2026.

Abstract

The rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into medical education presents both opportunities and continuing challenges for faculty and learners alike. This study provides an update on ongoing efforts to integrate AI into the curriculum at Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University in the United States, focusing on evolving student perceptions and a structured faculty development initiative. Using our previously published satisfaction instrument, we tracked shifting attitudes toward AI among our pre-clerkship and clerkship students.
Incoming students demonstrated increasing awareness of AI's impact on education and the profession, alongside a stronger commitment to developing core clinical competencies independent of technology. The response rate for AI use was higher in 2026 compared to 2025 (97%, n=68 vs. 89%, n=62) for rising third-year students (class sizes of 80). Those students showed a meaningful shift toward using AI for active learning, particularly practice question generation and self-testing (Mean 2.30, SD 1.10 for 2025; Mean 2.77, SD 1.14 for 2026), while upper-level clerkship students consistently prioritized the ability to function as competent clinicians without AI assistance. To address faculty readiness, we developed a multi-dimensional framework for responsible AI integration and implemented a series of faculty development workshops. The first workshop produced an increase in confidence (+0.75) and practical engagement (+0.43). A second workshop focused on ethical and policy considerations yielded greater critical awareness, though with a more cautious outlook. Feedback across both workshops consistently highlighted the need for hands-on training, prompt engineering instruction, and role-specific, tool-agnostic development pathways.
Our findings underscore that integration of AI into medical education requires sustained, flexible, and mission-aligned faculty development. As AI becomes standard in clinical practice, equipping both educators and learners with the skills for responsible, thoughtful AI use is not optional; it is essential.

PMID:
42359219
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 26 Jun 2026.

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