Exploration of exposure to artificial intelligence in undergraduate medical education: a Canadian cross-sectional mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: Emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have diverse applications in medicine. As AI tools advance towards clinical implementation, skills in how to use and interpret AI in a healthcare setting could become integral for physicians. This study examines undergraduate medical students' perceptions of AI, educational opportunities about of AI in medicine, and the desired medium for AI curriculum delivery. METHODS: A 32 question survey for undergraduate medical students was distributed from May-October 2021 to students to all 17 Canadian medical schools. The survey assessed the currently available learning opportunities about AI, the perceived need for learning opportunities about AI, and barriers to educating about AI in medicine. Interviews were conducted with participants to provide narrative context to survey responses. Likert scale survey questions were scored from 1 (disagree) to 5 (agree). Interview transcripts were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. RESULTS: We received 486 responses from 17 of 17 medical schools (roughly 5% of Canadian undergraduate medical students). The mean age of respondents was 25.34, with 45% being in their first year of medical school, 27% in their 2nd year, 15% in their 3rd year, and 10% in their 4th year. Respondents agreed that AI applications in medicine would become common in the future (94% agree) and would improve medicine (84% agree Further, respondents agreed that they would need to use and understand AI during their medical careers (73% agree; 68% agree), and that AI should be formally taught in medical education (67% agree). In contrast, a significant number of participants indicated that they did not have any formal educational opportunities about AI (85% disagree) and that AI-related learning opportunities were inadequate (74% disagree). Interviews with 18 students were conducted. Emerging themes from the interviews were a lack of formal education opportunities and non-AI content taking priority in the curriculum. CONCLUSION: A lack of educational opportunities about AI in medicine were identified across Canada in the participating students. As AI tools are currently progressing towards clinical implementation and there is currently a lack of educational opportunities about AI in medicine, AI should be considered for inclusion in formal medical curriculum.

Supplemental hydrogen sulfide in models of renal transplantation after cardiac death.

BACKGROUND: The increasing use of kidneys from donations after cardiac death (DCD) for renal transplantation is hindered by negative outcomes owing to organ injury after prolonged warm and cold ischemia-reperfusion. Recently, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has shown cytoprotective effects against ischemia-reperfusion injury; however, its effectiveness in the context of DCD renal transplantation is unknown. METHODS: We tested a novel 30-day in vivo syngeneic murine model of DCD renal transplantation, in which the donor kidney was clamped for 30 minutes and stored for 18 hours in cold University of Wisconsin (UW) solution or UW with 150 µM sodium hydrogen sulfide (UW + NaHS) before transplantation. We also tested a 7-day in vivo porcine model of DCD renal autotransplantation, in which the left kidney was clamped for 60 minutes and preserved for 24 hours using hypothermic perfusion with UW or UW + 150 µM NaHS before autotransplantation. We collected blood and urine samples periodically, and collected kidney samples at the end point for histopathology and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Rats that received H2S-treated kidneys showed significantly higher survival, faster recovery of graft function and significantly lower acute tubular necrosis than controls. Pig kidneys perfused with UW + NaHS showed significantly higher renal blood flow and lower renal resistance than control kidneys after 24 hours of perfusion. After autotransplantation, pigs that received H2S-treated kidneys showed significantly lower serum creatinine on days 1 and 7 after transplantation. Rat and pig kidneys treated with H2S also showed more protective gene expression profiles than controls. CONCLUSION: Our findings support the potential use of H2S-supplemented UW solution during cold storage as a novel and practical means to improve DCD graft survival and function.