Digital Divides in healthcare education innovations: Medical education informatics conference

‘Digital Divides in healthcare education innovations’ Oral presentation11th – 15th July 2021Authors: Mrs Clare Rainey, Dr Sonyia McFadden, Dr Raymond BondIntroductionHealthcare professionals are experiencing a time of rapid change in their professional practice due to integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital health into clinical practice. This trend is expected to continue as more sophisticated systems are developed. With such resources available, healthcare practitioners and students should be prepared to develop a critical understanding of AI and digital health. MethodsA symposium was organised in collaboration with Ulster University and held online on the 14th April 2021. Speakers from a range of disciplines in clinical practice, education, research and development contributed to this event, through oral presentations and panel discussions. Results Current developments in the fields of cardiology, radiology, paediatric audiology were presented. Insights into the development of education curricula were given and there was opportunity for discussion with attendees.Key points emerging indicated that further developments in the technologies discussed are imminent. These will present challenges and preparatory work is needed in both research and development to ensure the workforce is prepared for the integration of these technologies. Education should be tailored to individual user groups/disciplines and should be introduced as early as possible. Curriculum development themes included: (i) fundamentals of AI and digital health development (ii) applications of the technology (iii) critical appreciation of AI literature and performance reporting.ConclusionWith AI and digital health systems already in place in clinical practice, clinicians and students need to be appropriately aware of the functionality of these tools. Appropriate awareness includes comprehension of the potentials and pitfalls of such systems to ensure optimum delivery of future healthcare