RCSI's free-to-access AI in Healthcare online CPD course launched in September, and the university has now announced the course's 20,000th student registration – making it the most popular single programme RCSI has ever offered.

The uptake of this course reflects a period of extraordinary change in healthcare, technology and education.

Justin Ralph, Chief Technology Officer and member of the Senior Management Team, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, said: "AI is dominating conversations at all levels in all industries and all organisations. We designed this course to support healthcare professionals, students and leaders to better understand how AI can be applied safely, ethically and effectively across healthcare settings.

"As Ireland's only university dedicated solely to medicine and health sciences, we have a leadership position in healthcare education and digital innovation, supporting international efforts to prepare health systems and professionals for the future of care. At a time when AI is rapidly reshaping healthcare, education of this kind is essential, helping healthcare professionals understand both the opportunities and responsibilities that come with using AI in clinical and organisational settings."

RCSI had already broken new ground with the introduction of a successful and free-to-access CPD course in Sustainable Healthcare, delivered by the School of Population Health. The university's long-standing technical partnership with Microsoft offered further scope for innovation when developing the AI in Healthcare course, delivered and supported by the RCSI Online unit that underpins the university’s extensive postgraduate education portfolio of flexible, fully-online programmes.

"We have a shared history with Microsoft: they've been a key partner for eight years, and this relationship is a deep collaboration with Head of Education Kevin Marshall and his team," said Ralph. "Our organisations are both leaders in our fields, and that shared ambition made them the natural partner to help us build something at this scale."

Another key collaborator is prominent consultant clinical radiologist Dr John Sheehan, an RCSI alumnus with a track record of tech innovation across organisations such as Blackrock Health, Mobile Medical Diagnostics, xWave Technologies and the AIMS Summit. Sheehan presents the course via an uncanny AI-generated digital avatar; a 'digital twin' generated on-site at RCSI that can adapt to script changes and updated course material immediately, without any re-recording.

Capturing Dr Sheehan’s digital twin were the responsibility of the RCSI Online team, which generates the large amount of course content needed to deliver the university's broad portfolio of fully online postgraduate education. This work was led by Digital Learning Manager Killian Holmes and Creative Technology Lead Emiliano Grimaldi.

"This technology changes how we tell stories at scale," said Grimaldi. "The numbers speak for themselves. We're talking about an 80% reduction in cost compared to traditional video production, which is transformational. It's also 10 times faster than filming the equivalent content. Time-to-market matters to us, and so this is a game-changer."

Holmes, Grimaldi and the team landed on a combination of two technologies: AI avatars and AI-generated audio. This, enabled another innovation, the rapid development of an Arabic version of the entire course.

RCSI has a full campus in Bahrain and an important regional hub in the United Arab Emirates, along with a large cohort of current students and alumni living and working across the Middle East, leading to the decision to launch AI in Healthcare onstage at the WHX Tech summit in Dubai last year. The response rate to the launch, and to the Arabic course material, reflects the university's global reach: just over a quarter of total AI in Healthcare course participants are based in Ireland.

According to Grimaldi, the experience gained in developing the course offers some pointers to how online education will be delivered in future. "Some lecturers will love the technology because they don't have to go to the studio so often; some will prefer to deliver live sessions. For students, it may depend on the content: for simple content avatars may be appropriate, but a real person in a live session may be more interactive. Now we can offer both."

The university offers over 60 fully online postgraduate programmes in fields from healthcare management to population health, ranging from short, targeted CPD and micro-credential modules to full-blown two-year MSc programmes. Having experienced AI in Healthcare, which can be completed in around ten hours, participants are encouraged to sign up to further PgDip, PgCert or MSc studies.

"We’re so proud of what we’ve achieved in a short space of time, and the experience illustrates that healthcare, technology and healthcare education are undergoing an unprecedented period of change. Thanks to our colleagues and partners, and of course to our 20,000 new students, this milestone highlights the urgent need for trusted, healthcare-focused AI learning, ensuring that professionals are equipped to engage with emerging technologies in a way that is safe, ethical, patient-centred and evidence-informed,” said Ralph.

AI in Healthcare is open for immediate access free of charge, with the option to receive an official RCSI Certificate of Completion and 10 CPD points for a fee of €50.