STORY BY STEVE HOLT
Dustin Allen doesn’t shun artificial intelligence in his classrooms, he embraces it. In fact, Allen, director of the human physiology program and a clinical assistant professor, assigns a suite of artificial intelligence (AI) tools alongside the required reading to students in his Pulmonary Pathophysiology course to help them absorb what they’re learning: Google’s NotebookLM to create an AI tutor for the course; OpenEvidence or Scholar GPT to quickly find and summarize peer-reviewed research articles for their semester-long projects; and DALL-E or Adobe Firefly to generate images for the scientific infographics they’ll use in projects and papers.
“AI is opening science and health science to a wider range of people and backgrounds,” Allen says. “While it has major limitations and bias, it is also incredibly cheap, speaks multiple languages, and can take highly technical language and translate it into simple, more inclusive language that demystifies science. AI won’t replace learning or a classroom, but it will make learning happen more quickly and be less intimidating.”
Allen isn’t alone. In classrooms across Sargent, faculty are integrating AI into their health professions teaching. They are using a variety of tools to help students brainstorm and enhance clinical decision-making skills. They are using AI to develop educational materials, outline course content, and translate text into different languages. Caroline Brinkert, a clinical lecturer of speech, language, and hearing sciences and director of the Center for Stuttering Therapy, uses a personally trained GPT to simulate an adult stutterer. Kate Stewart, a clinical assistant professor of occupational therapy, partners with students to critically appraise AI-generated content, such as sample treatment plans.
“I believe AI is most powerful when used not as a shortcut, but as a tool for learning,” Stewart says.
Dean Jack Dennerlein says that while humans will always be at the center of Sargent’s work to advance the health and well-being of all people, AI is enhancing curriculum development and the learning process and preparing students for a professional environment in which the technology will be ubiquitous. Sargent’s philosophy echoes the University’s: that faculty must critically engage with AI rather than ignore it.
“BU believes generative AI can dramatically enhance learning when used thoughtfully, and faculty should acknowledge that students already have access to these tools—they will either use them without guidance or with purposeful direction that enriches their education,” says Kenneth Lutchen, vice president and associate provost for research.
Inside Sargent spoke with several faculty members about the AI tools they’re using, how they address AI’s limitations and risks, and their hopes for further application of the technology.
Which AI tools do you use in your teaching, and how are you using them?
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Kate Stewart, clinical assistant professor of occupational therapy: To date, my focus has been on guiding students to critically appraise AI-generated outputs (using tools like ChatGPT)—such as sample treatment plans—by comparing them with information gleaned from peer-reviewed sources, fostering digital literacy and ethical discernment. I believe AI is most powerful when used not as a shortcut, but as a tool for learning. |
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Samantha Brown, clinical assistant professor of physical therapy and director of clinical simulation: I currently use ChatGPT to help write or enhance real patient cases to make them more applicable to the topic being discussed in lecture and lab. I am also working with a faculty member from [BU’s] the Metropolitan College and another from Questrom School of Business to build an interactive AI “digital twin” that I can use in the classroom with cases to enhance clinical decision-making skills. Students will be able to interact with the avatar and take a medical history, etc.— (that is the goal, at least.) |
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Jennifer E. Bentley, clinical assistant professor, speech, language & hearing sciences: My students use generative AI to create stimuli for a six-minute interactive aural rehabilitation session with an in-person mock client. |
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Sara O’Brien, lecturer, nutrition: While not using AI a lot with students (and requiring them not to use it for original works, papers, research, or writing meal plans at present), the use of AI is being taught as the way for utilization to only augment practice—not to replace foundational knowledge. |
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Caroline Brinkert, clinical lecturer of speech, language & hearing sciences and director of the Clinic for Stuttering Therapy: I use ChatGPT to support assignment and course design in my graduate-level course, Stuttering and Related Disorders. Perhaps most unique is my use of a personally trained GPT to simulate an adult stutterer. |
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Meghan Graham, clinical assistant professor of speech, language & hearing sciences: I incorporate ChatGPT to help students brainstorm and develop educational materials—particularly for parent and caregiver education. We often pair this with Invideo AI to create engaging, accessible,g AI-generated videos., and ChatGPT’s ability to translate content into various languages allows us to better meet the diverse needs of our client and family populations. Behind the scenes, I use ChatGPT to support my role as a clinical educator by assisting with summarizing lecture slides, outlining course content, and streamlining clinical administrative tasks. |
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How do you assure the integrity of teaching materials you’ve created using AI or mitigate any other challenges presented by AI?
Allen: I think all instructors should be thinking a lot about both protecting their intellectual property—especially if they are writing books or textbooks, publishing research, etc.—as well as AI-proofing their courses. I tend to think that as AI becomes more prevalent, skills like public speaking, teamwork, active listening, and quick decision-making will ultimately become the differentiator of successful individuals. So incorporating skill-building activities in courses—rather than essays and other traditional assessment strategies—should be a priority.
Kate Stewart: Using guidelines developed by Karen Jacobs, clinical professor and associate dean for Digital Learning & Innovation [and inspired by guidelines written by the University’s Institute for Excellence in Teaching & Learning], I support students to consider the appropriate use of AI, focusing on transparency, verification, and source acknowledgement. I also guide students in critically appraising AI-generated content, reinforcing the notion that AI should support, not replace, human judgment.
Caroline Brinkert: The unpredictability of AI has worked well for simulating a client, as often student clinicians have to think on their feet and manage unexpected responses or constraints.
Brown: I use AI as a guide to develop frameworks for patient cases. I then go through the information it provides for accuracy and applicability to PT based on current evidence.
O’Brien: I have been learning to understand how to spot AI hallucinations [a response generated by AI that contains false or misleading information presented as fact] and follow up on the sources provided by AI to make sure they are real and valid.
What about AI makes you hopeful in health professions pedagogy?
Stewart: I am hopeful that AI will empower a new generation of occupational therapy practitioners who are not only competent users of technology, but also informed, ethical advocates for their clients and communities. In occupational therapy education, we teach students that the tools we use should enhance human connection and professional reasoning—the use of AI is no different. I believe our responsibility as educators is to equip students with the necessary strategies to shape our profession’s use of AI to align with our profession’s core values.
Bentley: If students can learn efficient and effective ways of using AI to create therapeutic stimuli, they may be able to ease some future time demands.
Brown: I’m very hopeful! I am working with faculty from [BU Questrom School of Business] and the computer science department to develop a framework for students to interact with AI through an avatar to practice taking a patient history.
O’Brien: AI is most helpful for future health professionals when they are taught how to use it—not to replace their critical thinking, but to assist with taking their interview with the patient and turning parts of it into their required medical documentation.
Brinkert: Kelly Hansen [lecturer in speech, language, and hearing sciences] and I are cochairs of the Simulation and Clinical Innovation committee and are working to thoughtfully evaluate the speech, language, and hearing sciences curriculum and embed AI simulations across the master’s program as a way to develop clinical skills within the classroom, and prepare students to excel in the real world.