6 SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS DAILY NEWS | Day 2 Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024 Early Career Investigator Showcase illuminates paths forward in research Friday session highlighted AHA-funded population and clinical scientists. Attention to research in a cardiology career can be arduous yet rewarding — especially when that research leads to life-changing patient outcomes. Getting started early is an important first step, and one that the American Heart Association fosters in many ways. One example is the AHA Early Career Investigator Showcase, an annual event at Scientific Sessions. Marat Fudim, MD, MHS, associate professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, was the director of this year’s showcase spotlighting AHA-funded investigators in clinical and population science. Fudim said his experience with the showcase years ago strengthened his devotion to shaping future patient care. One of his first experiences with Scientific Sessions was as a fellow at the Early Career Day, he said. “It shaped my outlook on mentorship, networking and academic work as a fellow and beyond.” The showcase spotlights inspiring young AHA-funded investigators, he said. “This session is a platform for predoctoral fellowship, postdoctoral fellowship and career development recipients to discuss their exciting research, receive exposure at a critical junction in their career and make more connections within the AHA early career community and larger AHA community.” Clinical research can range from pure data projects to randomized clinical trials with novel interventions, such as drugs and devices,” Fudim said. “The fact that a researcher can participate in all types of research during the span of their career is fulfilling and promises never to get boring.” Since his early exposure to the research showcase, Fudim said he has watched his own research projects, and those of his early career colleagues, translate into clinical practice. He has also benefited from his involvement with the showcase — for instance, the opportunity during last year’s meeting to connect with AHA Fellows in Training and Early Career members. “I learned about their pathways in clinical medicine and clinical investigation,” Fudim said. “The Early Career Day is not primarily focused on communicating original research, but rather how to fund, publish and conduct successful and impactful research projects.” Fudim “For instance, there’s a lot of discussion on creating augmented reality experiences for trainees in education. So how can we make educational experiences better for people by providing technology to create, say, a visual representation of the heart when some abnormality is there?” he said. “You could read about it in a book, but that experience might make the trainee learn more about what that might actually look like.” Building on the application of AI in education, Katie Berlacher, MD, MS, FACC, associate chief of cardiology for education at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said there are other innovative uses of the technology for anyone learning medicine — including students, residents and fellows along with practitioners and cardiovascular team members. “Learners often use AI to simplify concepts or generate answers to questions they have, ideally after they have tried to come up with the answers themselves,” she said. “For example, it could be used to generate a differential for a patient with specific presenting symptoms. “Educators are also using this often to help ease their burden of work, such as to help them write more questions, develop variation on curricula, draft learning objectives or even write a first draft of a letter of recommendation.” That’s not to say AI isn’t without its drawbacks. For education, Berlacher said one of the biggest concerns is that it could be used by students to take the easy way out. “The biggest pitfall I see with regards to generative AI and medical education is that AI can be used as a shortcut to find content and answers, which can circumvent the essential and beneficial work that is required for the brain to actually learn,” she said. “Remember, learning science has taught us that learning — the acquisition of knowledge — is work for the brain. It should be a bit uncomfortable and a bit of a struggle to learn new things. If or when AI is used in a way that eliminates that struggle, it also eliminates the actual learning.” Beyond that, Khera said, there are the usual concerns with privacy, data security, data inaccuracy and especially bias in the algorithms used by generative AI. One of the main concerns that isn’t always recognized is that of equity in deployment of the technology, he said. “There’s nothing saying every health system will adopt these AI systems,” Khera said. “The only way to (maintain equity) is to ensure that AI is treated like any other diagnostic tool. There should be a standard of care, making sure we ensure technological equity when we apply AI technology in care.” Despite these concerns, Berlacher said AI isn’t going away, and the medical community needs to lead the way in determining how it will be used. “Generative AI is here to stay in medicine as well as in education and training,” she said. “Proper integration of generative AI into medical education will take thoughtful training of learners as well as faculty development for educators. We should all be both curious and cautious as we integrate generative AI into our own learning.” AI LEARNING continued from page 1
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2NjI=