AI Takes Charge of Clinical Practice for Critical Patients in Korean Medicine... Dong-Eui University Develops Collaborative Education Platform

Professor Chanyoung Kwon of Korean Medicine and Professor Sunghui Kim of AI Join Hands

Developed to Meet Field Needs, Presenting New Possibilities for Future Medical Education

An educational platform that conducts clinical practice in Korean medicine using AI has been launched.

On the 13th, Dong-Eui University announced that professors responsible for Korean medicine education in clinical settings and IT experts collaborated to develop a platform that handles clinical practice for Korean medicine students.

Professor Kwon Chan-young of Dong-Eui University’s College of Korean Medicine and Professor Kim Sung-hee of the Department of Artificial Intelligence recently developed a ChatGPT-based educational platform and completed a pilot application in actual classes.

This platform features generative AI acting as a virtual patient in place of real patients, providing students with experiences similar to actual clinical situations.

Overview of Generative AI-Based Educational Support Platform.

Professor Kwon Chan-young, who is in charge of education in Korean neuropsychiatry at the College of Korean Medicine, explained the new class concept, saying, “Practice using standardized patients involves high costs and difficulties in securing personnel, especially in the psychiatric field. Using AI can overcome these limitations and provide students with more practice opportunities.”

Professor Kim Sung-hee of the Department of Artificial Intelligence proposed a web-based platform integrating IT technology. The platform allows instructors to conveniently create various patient scenarios using standardized forms and monitor students’ clinical processes. Students can conduct diagnoses by conversing with patients as if in a real clinic.

This platform, piloted in the fourth-year neuropsychiatry clinical practice class at Dong-Eui University’s College of Korean Medicine, has received positive feedback from students. One student evaluated it as “the most interesting assignment during six years at the College of Korean Medicine.” Another student shared, “It was less burdensome than facing real patients, allowing me to think more deeply during practice.”

According to a survey conducted after the class, student satisfaction scored above 4 points (out of 5) in most categories. Particularly, it received high scores of 4.71 in the appropriateness of education and 4.44 in interest.

Professor Kim Sung-hee, who led the platform development, explained, “Traditional practice using standardized patients had limitations in human and material resources, but the AI-based platform overcomes these constraints and offers more practice opportunities.”

A notable feature of this research is addressing the sensitive topic of suicide risk assessment in virtual patients. This educational significance lies in safely conducting clinical practice on risky situations that are difficult to perform with real patients by utilizing AI.

One student commented, “I was able to experience in advance the difficulties and embarrassment that might arise when meeting real patients.”

(From the left) Professor Kwon Chan-young, Department of Korean Medicine, Dong-Eui University, Professor Kim Sung-hee, Department of Artificial Intelligence.

Professor Kwon Chan-young said, “It is practically difficult to implement patients with suicide risk in actual clinical training, but it is an essential skill for Korean medicine doctors. Through AI simulation, we were able to safely conduct practice on such risky situations.”

The evaluation of how similar the AI responses were to actual patient reactions scored relatively low at 3.69 points. The research team plans to supplement this by developing more diverse patient modules and adding time-limit functions.

Supported by Dong-Eui University’s AI Grand ICT Research Center, the research team plans to further develop the platform based on this achievement to contribute to the qualitative improvement of Korean medicine education. They also intend to implement various cases that are difficult to encounter in actual clinical settings, such as pediatrics as well as psychiatry, to enhance students’ clinical skills.

Jung Seok-chan, director of the AI Grand ICT Research Center, said, “Through this research, we confirmed the potential of AI technology to provide practical help in Korean medicine education, and the center will support the development of more innovative AI-based educational platforms through collaboration with experts in various fields.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.