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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Healthcare Professions Education
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1529305
This article is part of the Research Topic Large Language Models for Medical Applications View all 9 articles

Perceptions and Future Perspectives of Medical Students on the Use of Artificial Intelligence based Chatbots: An Exploratory Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Juan José Gualda-Gea Juan José Gualda-Gea 1,2,3*Lourdes Estefanía Barón-Miras Lourdes Estefanía Barón-Miras 1,2,3Maria Jesús Bertran Luengo Maria Jesús Bertran Luengo 2,3Anna Vilella Anna Vilella 1,2,3ISABEL TORÁ-ROCAMORA ISABEL TORÁ-ROCAMORA 1,2,3Andrés Prat Marin Andrés Prat Marin 1,2,3
  • 1 University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  • 2 Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
  • 3 Instituto Salud Global Barcelona (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made a strong entrance into different fields such as healthcare, but currently, medical degree curricula are not adapted to the changes that adopting these types of tools entitles. It is important to understand the future needs of students to provide the most comprehensive education possible.The aim of this teaching improvement project is to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and perspectives of medical students regarding the application of AI and chatbots with patients, also considering their ethical perceptions.Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional analysis in which the participants were students enrolled in the subject "Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Applied Statistics" during the second semester of the 2023/24 academic year, corresponding to the fifth year of the Degree in Medicine at the University of Barcelona. The students were invited to complete a specific questionnaire anonymously and voluntarily, which they could respond to using their mobile devices by scanning a QR code projected on the classroom screen, we used Microsoft Forms to perform the survey.Results: Out of the 61 students enrolled in the subject, 34 (56%) attended the seminar, of whom 29 (85%) completed the questionnaire correctly. Of those completing the questionnaire, 20 (69%) had never used chatbots for medical information, 19 (66%) expressed a strong interest in the practical applications of AI in medicine, 14 (48%) indicated elevated concern about the ethical aspects, 17 (59%) acknowledged potential biases in these tools, and 17 (59%) expressed at least moderate confidence in chatbot-provided information. Notably, 24 (83%) agreed that acquiring AI-related knowledge will be essential to effectively perform their future professional roles.

    Keywords: Medical Education, artificial intelligence, Chatbots, Medical students, teaching improvement

    Received: 19 Nov 2024; Accepted: 07 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Gualda-Gea, Barón-Miras, Bertran Luengo, Vilella, TORÁ-ROCAMORA and Prat Marin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Juan José Gualda-Gea, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.