How to Get Started with AI: A Practical Guide for Physicians
Artificial intelligence is no longer the future - it’s already reshaping how we diagnose, treat, and care for patients. Yet for many physicians, AI still feels like a buzzword: intimidating, abstract, or reserved for tech companies and research labs. If you’re curious but unsure where to begin, you’re not alone. This step-bystep guide (no programming required) shows how AI can support your clinical work, learning, and personal productivity.
Understand What AI Actually Means in Medicine
At its core, AI refers to tools that learn from data to make predictions, recognise patterns, or generate text. In healthcare this can mean Large language models (LLMs)—such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Med-PaLM:
Reading radiology scans.
Summarising clinical notes.
Helping with patient triage.
Flagging high-risk patients.
Assisting with writing, research, and decision support.
Below are three concrete ways that LLMs - ChatGPT and its peers - can turbo-charge your clinical workflow and free up precious time for patient care. Just copy and paste each ‘prompt’ into your LLM to get started!
1. Point-of-Care Superpowers: Rapid Differentials & Decision Support
Pro-tip: Treat ChatGPT’s output like advice from a bright junior registrar - verify before you sign off.
2. Accelerate Learning: CME, Journal Clubs & Corridor Teaching —Made Easy
Speed-read a paper
Upload the PDF → “Summarise the objective, primary endpoint, key stats, and three practice-changing take-aways. Bullet format, ≤200 words.”
Stay current without doom-scrolling
“List RCTs on GLP-1 agonists in heart failure published in the last 30 days. Provide PubMed links.”
Auto-generate flashcards
After the summary → “Convert each bullet into an Anki cloze-deletion card.” Copy-paste into Anki and you’re done.
Transform guidelines for patients
“Rewrite the 2024 ESC heart-failure self-care advice at an 8th-grade reading level, 250 words, conversational tone.”
Create micro-lectures on the fly
“Case: 65-year-old man, STEMI 2 days ago, EF 35%. Generate five Socratic questions for interns about adding spironolactone, with brief ideal answers.”
Note: LLMs may hallucinate references - open the DOI before quoting.
3. Slash Your Admin: Faster Notes, Emails & Daily Workflow
4. Be Curious—But Cautious
AI is powerful, but not perfect. It should enhance (not replace) clinical judgment.
Watch out for:
Hallucinated facts (especially from chatbots)
Biases in training data
Opaque reasoning (“black-box” predictions)
Ethical and privacy concerns around patient data
When in doubt, supervise it like a junior medical student.
Final Thoughts
AI isn’t just for techies anymore. As a physician, you bring clinical expertise, patient-centred thinking, and real-world perspective; essential for shaping how AI is used in healthcare. Start small, keep asking questions, and iterate. Whether you’re writing notes, reviewing research, or planning your week, AI can be a reliable partner once you know how to harness it.
Stay curious, stay sceptical, and watch your practice, and free time. benefit.
