Synthetic medical education in dermatology leveraging generative artificial intelligence

Abstract The advent of large language models (LLMs) represents an enormous opportunity to revolutionize medical education. Via “synthetic education,” LLMs can be harnessed to generate novel content for medical education purposes, offering potentially unlimited resources for physicians in training. U...

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Main Authors: Arya S. Rao, John Kim, Andrew Mu, Cameron C. Young, Ezra Kalmowitz, Michael Senter-Zapata, David C. Whitehead, Lilit Garibyan, Adam B. Landman, Marc D. Succi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:npj Digital Medicine
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01650-x
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author Arya S. Rao
John Kim
Andrew Mu
Cameron C. Young
Ezra Kalmowitz
Michael Senter-Zapata
David C. Whitehead
Lilit Garibyan
Adam B. Landman
Marc D. Succi
author_facet Arya S. Rao
John Kim
Andrew Mu
Cameron C. Young
Ezra Kalmowitz
Michael Senter-Zapata
David C. Whitehead
Lilit Garibyan
Adam B. Landman
Marc D. Succi
author_sort Arya S. Rao
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The advent of large language models (LLMs) represents an enormous opportunity to revolutionize medical education. Via “synthetic education,” LLMs can be harnessed to generate novel content for medical education purposes, offering potentially unlimited resources for physicians in training. Utilizing OpenAI’s GPT-4, we generated clinical vignettes and accompanying explanations for 20 skin and soft tissue diseases tested on the United States Medical Licensing Examination. Physician experts gave the vignettes high average scores on a Likert scale in scientific accuracy (4.45/5), comprehensiveness (4.3/5), and overall quality (4.28/5) and low scores for potential clinical harm (1.6/5) and demographic bias (1.52/5). A strong correlation (r = 0.83) was observed between comprehensiveness and overall quality. Vignettes did not incorporate significant demographic diversity. This study underscores the potential of LLMs in enhancing the scalability, accessibility, and customizability of dermatology education materials. Efforts to increase vignettes’ demographic diversity should be incorporated to increase applicability to diverse populations.
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issn 2398-6352
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spelling doaj-art-34360d19dc254cdb80a8e64dea519a602025-08-20T03:09:21ZengNature Portfolionpj Digital Medicine2398-63522025-05-01811510.1038/s41746-025-01650-xSynthetic medical education in dermatology leveraging generative artificial intelligenceArya S. Rao0John Kim1Andrew Mu2Cameron C. Young3Ezra Kalmowitz4Michael Senter-Zapata5David C. Whitehead6Lilit Garibyan7Adam B. Landman8Marc D. Succi9Harvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolAbstract The advent of large language models (LLMs) represents an enormous opportunity to revolutionize medical education. Via “synthetic education,” LLMs can be harnessed to generate novel content for medical education purposes, offering potentially unlimited resources for physicians in training. Utilizing OpenAI’s GPT-4, we generated clinical vignettes and accompanying explanations for 20 skin and soft tissue diseases tested on the United States Medical Licensing Examination. Physician experts gave the vignettes high average scores on a Likert scale in scientific accuracy (4.45/5), comprehensiveness (4.3/5), and overall quality (4.28/5) and low scores for potential clinical harm (1.6/5) and demographic bias (1.52/5). A strong correlation (r = 0.83) was observed between comprehensiveness and overall quality. Vignettes did not incorporate significant demographic diversity. This study underscores the potential of LLMs in enhancing the scalability, accessibility, and customizability of dermatology education materials. Efforts to increase vignettes’ demographic diversity should be incorporated to increase applicability to diverse populations.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01650-x
spellingShingle Arya S. Rao
John Kim
Andrew Mu
Cameron C. Young
Ezra Kalmowitz
Michael Senter-Zapata
David C. Whitehead
Lilit Garibyan
Adam B. Landman
Marc D. Succi
Synthetic medical education in dermatology leveraging generative artificial intelligence
npj Digital Medicine
title Synthetic medical education in dermatology leveraging generative artificial intelligence
title_full Synthetic medical education in dermatology leveraging generative artificial intelligence
title_fullStr Synthetic medical education in dermatology leveraging generative artificial intelligence
title_full_unstemmed Synthetic medical education in dermatology leveraging generative artificial intelligence
title_short Synthetic medical education in dermatology leveraging generative artificial intelligence
title_sort synthetic medical education in dermatology leveraging generative artificial intelligence
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01650-x
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