International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH), an autonomous research university, has recently introduced an online course on ‘AI for Medical Professionals’ in collaboration with the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS), an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, and IHub-Data. Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary of DST; Dr Shiv Kumar Sarin, President of NAMS; and Prof. P J Narayanan, Director of IT Hyderabad, launched this first-of-its-kind course virtually.
The 12-week online orientation course on AI for Medical Professionals is designed to equip medical professionals with the necessary skills to understand, evaluate, and apply AI technologies in real clinical settings. This practical knowledge will significantly improve patient care and operational efficiency. The course covers both theory and tutorials on the basics of AI, machine learning, deep learning, and includes case studies on clinical applications involving screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and patient management. Participants will also delve into ethical and governance issues related to AI tools and techniques.
At the virtual inauguration, Prof. P J Narayanan, Director of IIIT Hyderabad, said:
IIITH is proud to partner with NAMS on this initiative. As the top-ranking institute in AI research in India, we feel it’s imperative to share our expertise in making AI more accessible to the medical fraternity. This will allow us to provide useful and rare AI insights to medical professionals to enhance their judgments, diagnoses, and modern drug discovery.
The online programme, delivered through video lectures, weekly contact sessions, and case studies, includes quizzes, assignments, and assessments, leading to certification upon completion. Around 200 medical professionals, which include senior faculty/research members from premier medical institutions with postgraduate degrees across 41 specialities spread over 24 states and 56 cities across the country, are participating in the programme. Eminent faculty mentors from IIITH and NAMS are involved in delivering this course.
Prof. Shiv Kumar Sarin, President of NAMS, added:
This AI course will enable medical professionals to understand and use transformative technologies like AI to diagnose and treat patients. Medicine is both an art and a science. Doctors’ and engineers’ competencies can be pooled to develop AI-supported solutions in medicine. I am sure that over time, such a programme will become an integral part of the medical curriculum, and medical students will be able to understand and use AI technologies in healthcare.
The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad was founded in 1998 and focuses on the core areas of Information Technology, such as Computer Science, Electronics and Communications, and their applications in other domains through interdisciplinary research with a more significant social impact. Some of its research domains include Visual Information Technologies, Human Language Technologies, Data Engineering, VLSI and Embedded Systems, Computer Architecture, Wireless Communications, Algorithms and Information Security, Robotics, Building Science, Earthquake Engineering, Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics, Education Technologies, Power Systems, IT in Agriculture and e-Governance.
