My work as a clinician meant I had limited time to study, but the supervisors took this limitation into consideration. They were also mindful of how my research was progressing—and this helped me to focus fully. The course not only taught me about AI algorithms, but also provided guidance for preparing documents and slides; rather than just focusing on scripts, it felt as if the supervisors were encouraging my research based on an understanding of its content.

When I started this course, I had almost no knowledge or experience of medical AI. However, in addition to giving lectures, the supervisors provide frequent and detailed advice on my research project. When I was forced for various reasons to change my research project, the supervisors helped me do this smoothly. I am extremely grateful to them.

The course provided me with one-on-one tuition on how to improve the accuracy of my programming, the algorithms I use in my actual research, and my models. It enabled me to learn about design thinking in a systematic manner, and I am confident I can apply what I have learned in my future research. On the other hand, the course provided no opportunities to use design thinking to create research plans, or to choose development themes; even when it comes to the themes of the AI course, I have yet to actually use design thinking to specify any research themes. I feel that this is an oversight. Although we may cover this in the second year onward, we have to set research themes in our first year; for this reason, I feel it would be better if we were taught how to do this sooner rather than later.

I enrolled on this one-year course without any prior knowledge of AI. During my studies, I received comprehensive instruction about machine learning techniques, and about the ethical and social dimensions to AI. In addition to lectures, the course provided more hands-on learning through online seminars. I feel I have now gained a basic understand of how to use AI in medical settings, and of how to think about this independently. Course students can communicate with their supervisors easily via Slack. I was grateful for this, as it made it easier to ask for help when I had problems.

Before enrolling on this course, I studied programming in my own time. But there were many things I didn’t understand, and I often found myself wasting time. The course provides lots of support, and it’s easy to ask questions. So, it has been easy to make progress without getting frustrated. In addition, it is motivating to be able to attend lecture meetings with people from various different fields.

More than 10 years after I finished my undergraduate degree, I now have the opportunity to learn programming—a skill that is indispensable in this day and age. All the supervisors from Clinical AI are approachable, and they are happy to give advice on how to organize research data—even if it isn’t part of the AI course. I have found their advice and programming knowledge to be extremely valuable. The course has broadened my horizons as a healthcare professional.
I know the coronavirus has made it impossible, but I do wish the course provided opportunities to experience design thinking first-hand through company visits and seminars. This would help me understand things better. Going forward, I hope there will be opportunities to attend symposiums and lecture meetings held by supervisors who are actually using AI to advance medicine. We learn about programming via the “paiza” online programming course and via online lectures. I would like the course to provide more study materials—such as lists of codes—as this would help in all aspects of study.

I found this one-year course to be extremely productive. I experienced things that I would not have been able to experience through more normal graduate activities. These include design thinking, biodesign, and other approaches to medical AI research—and even encompasses exit strategies. In addition, I had the opportunity to listen to medical AI seminars given by lecturers who are at the forefront of AI research—and I was able to draw on what they said for my own research. Going forward, I wish to learn about the current state of medical AI research and development at private-sector companies.