Exploring the roles of artificial intelligence in surgical education: A scoping review

Background: Technology-enhanced teaching and learning, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, has started to evolve in surgical education. Hence, the purpose of this scoping review is to explore the current and future roles of AI in surgical education. Methods: Nine bibliographic databases were searched from January 2010 to January 2021. Full-text articles were included if they focused on AI in surgical education. Results: Out of 14,008 unique sources of evidence, 93 were included. Out of 93, 84 were conducted in the simulation setting, and 89 targeted technical skills. Fifty-six studies focused on skills assessment/classification, and 36 used multiple AI techniques. Also, increasing sample size, having balanced data, and using AI to provide feedback were major future directions mentioned by authors. Conclusions: AI can help optimize the education of trainees and our results can help educators and researchers identify areas that need further investigation.

Automated summary

This scoping review aims to explore the current and future roles of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in surgical education. The study found that AI applications in the simulation setting were commonly used for assessing and classifying technical skills. Future directions include increasing sample size, using balanced data, and utilizing AI for feedback provision.