JMIR Medical Education
Technology, innovation, and openness in medical education in the information age.
Editor-in-Chief:
Blake J. Lesselroth, MD MBI FACP FAMIA, University of Oklahoma | OU-Tulsa Schusterman Center; University of Victoria, British Columbia
Impact Factor 12.6 More information about Impact Factor CiteScore 16.0 More information about CiteScore
Recent Articles
For novice anatomy learners, studying human anatomy using textbooks, 2D learning materials, and static anatomical models frequently causes challenges in understanding complex anatomical structures. Since access to dissected human donor bodies is limited in many premedical programs, researchers are concerned with exploring novel supplementary approaches to anatomy learning. This research explores the effectiveness of an augmented reality (AR) app in enhancing the anatomy learning experiences of premedical students.
Clinical documentation is a foundational skill in medicine, developed during training and required in everyday practice. Historically, the chart note functioned as a clinician-centered cognitive tool for reasoning, teaching, and communication but has evolved into a multipurpose document shaped by administrative, regulatory, and financial demands, and is increasingly experienced as burdensome. The electronic health record, intended to improve efficiency, has introduced additional complexity and workflow strain, contributing to clinician burnout. Ambient artificial intelligence (AI) scribe technologies are rapidly being adopted to address these challenges, yet their implementation has outpaced evidence regarding their impact on learning, cognition, and clinical reasoning. We raise questions regarding the underexplored consequences of AI-assisted documentation, particularly cognitive off-loading and the potential for de-skilling, echoing historical concerns surrounding earlier cognitive technologies that externalized thought. We propose a practical framework that re-centers clinical documentation around four core aims: supporting clinical reasoning (“note to self”), facilitating communication (“note to others”), meeting medicolegal and billing requirements, and enhancing patient education in the era of open notes. Incorporating this framework into training may promote more intentional documentation practices before routine reliance on AI. We advocate for reframing the chart note to support clinician development and preserve its role in high-quality, patient-centered care.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping clinical practice and redefining the competencies future physicians will need. International bodies, such as the Association of American Medical Colleges, have called for structured AI training in medical curricula. Despite growing international consensus, no systematic nationwide evaluation had been conducted in Spain prior to this study.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping clinical education by embedding assessment and feedback into everyday learning activities. Medical students can now use machine learning dashboards, generative AI, large language models, and emerging agentic systems to practice clinical reasoning, communication, and procedural skills while receiving individualized feedback within seconds. However, the availability of more data and more feedback does not necessarily produce better learning. This Viewpoint is intended for clinical educators, assessment leaders, curriculum committees, faculty developers, and institutional leaders who must decide how AI should be used in formative activities without reducing education to automated scoring. AI-assisted formative assessment is defined in this paper as the intentional use of AI tools to generate, organize, and support interpretation of performance information for learning rather than grading. Its distinctive contribution lies in the scale, adaptivity, conversational simulation, pattern detection, and possible autonomy of AI systems. However, AI outputs become formative only when learners and educators interpret them critically, judge their trustworthiness, and translate them into a small number of focused follow-on learning actions. This paper synthesizes the current evidence base while noting that much of it remains early, heterogeneous, and concentrated in short-term or single-setting studies. It examines key risks, including hallucination, automation bias, epistemic overtrust, hidden curricular effects, and broader concerns related to professional identity, power asymmetries, data privacy, and inequitable access. It also presents context-specific implementation examples for preclinical case-based learning, communication and objective structured clinical examination preparation, procedural skill laboratories, clerkship learning, and programmatic assessment portfolios, together with practical implications for faculty development, institutional governance, and phased local implementation. As a Viewpoint rather than an empirical study or systematic review, the framework and examples should be interpreted as evidence-informed design propositions that require local evaluation and validation. Overall, the value of AI-assisted formative assessment depends less on the volume of AI-generated feedback than on educational designs that preserve learner agency, professional judgment, and human accountability.
Applicants participating in the Residency Match generally submit a photograph through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Studies demonstrate that subjectively more attractive applicants are more likely to succeed during job recruitment, including a paper related to the Residency Match.
The prevalence of American youth identifying as transgender has doubled in the past five years, emphasizing the crucial role of gender affirmation surgery (GAS) in treating gender dysphoria. However, the current health care infrastructure faces challenges in meeting the escalating demand for GAS interventions. Transgender and gender-diverse patients encounter barriers such as travel and extended waitlists for specialized surgeons. This viewpoint highlights the insufficient exposure to GAS in medical education, spanning from medical students to attending surgeons, and examines the uneven distribution of GAS practitioners across specialties. The absence of formal training and board certification compounds the issue, urging a comprehensive reevaluation of medical education to ensure quality care for the expanding transgender and gender-diverse population.
Surgical training has changed over the past decade. Augmented reality (AR) has become one of the more talked-about developments within that space. At its core, AR works by placing digital information over the real-world environment. This gives trainees guidance and spatial cues during a procedure as they perform it. What remains uncertain is whether AR moves the needle on technical skill development in trainees. The studies that address this directly are few, and the ones that do exist rarely speak to each other in any meaningful way. Outcome measures shift from paper to paper, the hardware studied spans a wide range of maturity, and methodological consistency is hard to find.
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are increasingly used in nursing education, attracting learners with diverse participation modes. Social learners (self-directed) enroll voluntarily based on personal interests, while academic learners (institution-directed) are mandated by nursing schools, with performance linked to grades. Existing literature shows that academic learners outperform social learners in MOOCs, but evidence is scarce on whether this performance gap stems from distinct participation patterns shaped by institutional requirements.
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