Generative artificial intelligence adoption and use in teaching and training healthcare professionals in higher education in the United States: a cross-sectional study
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly expanding across medical and allied health education. However, structured and curriculum-integrated training to prepare future healthcare professionals remains limited. This study examined the adoption, self-reported knowledge, and perceptions of GenAI among faculty and students in a U.S. higher education institution.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-administered online questionnaire to assess GenAI knowledge, adoption, use, benefits, and challenges among faculty and students in a public Minority Serving Institution in California. Using a convenience sampling technique, data were collected with Qualtrics from January – March 2025 and analysed with IBM SPSS Statistics version 31.
Results
A total of 559 complete responses were analysed (faculty: 19.3%; students: 78.5%). Overall, 83.2% of respondents reported having used GenAI, including 91.1% of faculty and 81.4% of students, with no statistically significant difference by role (p = .12). Only 7.9% had received formal training in GenAI, while 29.1% reported having conducted substantial independent research on GenAI (faculty: 48.5%; students: 24.3%). Nearly half of participants (48.7%) perceived GenAI as beneficial for learning, teaching, and research (p = .002). Additionally, 47.4% believed GenAI is currently essential, and 70.8% anticipated it will become essential in the future, with significant more faculty respondents asserting the importance of AI (p < .001 and p = .009, respectively). Most respondents relied on free GenAI tools (90.6%), and among users of paid tools, 66.3% paid out of pocket. Participants primarily sourced GenAI information from the internet (77.3%), reported substantial concerns (70.3%), and experienced multiple challenges in GenAI use (84.7%).
Conclusions
GenAI use among faculty and students is widespread, but formal training and institutional support remain limited. These findings underscore the need for coordinated, campus-wide GenAI training, governance, and policy frameworks to promote ethical, effective, and equitable integration of GenAI into healthcare education and workforce preparation.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly expanding across medical and allied health education. However, structured and curriculum-integrated training to prepare future healthcare professionals remains limited. This study examined the adoption, self-reported knowledge, and perceptions of GenAI among faculty and students in a U.S. higher education institution.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-administered online questionnaire to assess GenAI knowledge, adoption, use, benefits, and challenges among faculty and students in a public Minority Serving Institution in California. Using a convenience sampling technique, data were collected with Qualtrics from January – March 2025 and analysed with IBM SPSS Statistics version 31.
Results
A total of 559 complete responses were analysed (faculty: 19.3%; students: 78.5%). Overall, 83.2% of respondents reported having used GenAI, including 91.1% of faculty and 81.4% of students, with no statistically significant difference by role (p = .12). Only 7.9% had received formal training in GenAI, while 29.1% reported having conducted substantial independent research on GenAI (faculty: 48.5%; students: 24.3%). Nearly half of participants (48.7%) perceived GenAI as beneficial for learning, teaching, and research (p = .002). Additionally, 47.4% believed GenAI is currently essential, and 70.8% anticipated it will become essential in the future, with significant more faculty respondents asserting the importance of AI (p < .001 and p = .009, respectively). Most respondents relied on free GenAI tools (90.6%), and among users of paid tools, 66.3% paid out of pocket. Participants primarily sourced GenAI information from the internet (77.3%), reported substantial concerns (70.3%), and experienced multiple challenges in GenAI use (84.7%).
Conclusions
GenAI use among faculty and students is widespread, but formal training and institutional support remain limited. These findings underscore the need for coordinated, campus-wide GenAI training, governance, and policy frameworks to promote ethical, effective, and equitable integration of GenAI into healthcare education and workforce preparation.
Date Issued
2026-06-05
Date Acceptance
2026-04-21
Citation
BMC Medical Education, 2026, 26 (1)
ISSN
1472-6920
Publisher
BMC
Journal / Book Title
BMC Medical Education
Volume
26
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
10.1186/s12909-026-09291-8
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
932
Date Publish Online
2026-04-24