Only a few short years ago, artificial intelligence (AI) seemed like a tool reserved for tech experts. Today, AI is reshaping nearly every aspect of our lives, including health care and medical education. While changes in technology can bring uncertainty, AI and other innovations are helping make medical school more dynamic, connected and hands-on than ever before.

Technology helps bridge the gap between classroom learning and clinical experiences. Students use digital platforms to discuss cases, review medical images and collaborate on problem-based learning opportunities. Simulation tools like virtual reality, sim mannequins and standardized patient encounters give them an explorative place to practice communication and hands-on skills. In today’s world, being fluent in technology is part of being a great physician.

Because technology evolves rapidly, learning how to adapt to new tools is just as essential as mastering the current ones. At the School of Medicine, our students are introduced to the latest platforms and systems, from navigating electronic health records to understanding AI-assisted diagnostics and collaborating within digital clinical environments.

Beyond improving efficiency, students also learn how to leverage these tools to bring human connection back to health care. With advances in AI-assisted documentation and diagnostics, physicians can spend more time focused on patients rather than screens.

Faculty are beginning to incorporate AI to make learning a more personalized and meaningful experience by developing customized case studies, quizzes and discussion prompts to align with course objectives. Students are using it to summarize readings, quiz themselves, simulate patient encounters and refine their diagnostic reasoning in a low-pressure environment. AI can even help identify patterns of struggle or success across the curriculum, enabling earlier intervention and stronger academic support.

“Learning analytics powered by AI can analyze how students approach clinical cases and suggest targeted topics or follow-up scenarios to help them improve,” shared David Aylor, director of instructional technology. “It also allows faculty to give faster, more detailed feedback and spend more time mentoring students one-on-one. Here in the Academic Technology Office, we are truly seeing these tools enhance, not replace, the human side of medical education.”

The Academic Technology Office (ATO) plays a central role in ensuring technology enhances teaching and learning. By supporting classroom and simulation technology, helping with instructional design and providing training for emerging tools, ATO creates a seamless environment where innovation and education can thrive together.

Recently, the ATO hosted the Immersive Technology Summit at Kornhauser Library, bringing together students, faculty and industry partners like Apple, Lenovo and Connection. Attendees explored how virtual reality, augmented reality and AI are transforming medical education and health care. Students had the opportunity to experience immersive technologies firsthand, gaining insight into how these tools can deepen learning and connect technology to patient care.

While some remain cautious about the role of AI, our faculty, staff and learners are embracing innovation so that they can be at the forefront of medicine with both technical skill and human compassion. Discover how innovation is redefining medical training at the University of Louisville.