Using artificial intelligence in medical facilities has been experimented with in India for some time now. But for a country like India, it is important to ensure last-mile reach and upskilling of primary healthcare workers for better adoption of technology
To discuss the possibilities and challenges of the same, a panel of experts came together at the global AI summit being held in India. The session was titled Workforce Readiness for Artificial Intelligence in Primary Health Care.
Starting the conversation, Sachin Sharma said that skilling of the primary healthcare workers is crucial to make sure technology reaches last-mile. For the same, skilling and reskilling of the workers are extremely important
But what skills need to be developed? Answering this, Anurag Agarwal of Ashoka University said, “AI will become increasingly more relevant. At the same time, from an educational institution’s point of view, you can’t dilute critical thinking and knowledge. Especially in mission-critical applications like health, where, if AI were to fail, would you still be able to do the task?”
According to him, the training of students at large must ensure they can do critical tasks without any digital health tech available to them
However, the question of tech readiness always arises when experienced professionals are spoken about. On this, Dr. Monna Duggal of ICMR said that senior professionals are more experienced and their knowledge is critical as far as fields like healthcare are concerned. But at the same time, the youngsters are more tech-savvy than the older generation. So, at this point, to achieve that balance, everybody needs to be upskilled.
“But probably it has to start from the medical schools, and they are like schools, so you will have to rethink how you want to structure your medical curriculum,” she further added
But the government at the centre and the states play a huge role in ground level upskilling. On this, Ranjana Kumar, of Centre for Health, Applied Knowledge and Research Autonomy, (CHAKRA) said that the CHAKRA is a Maharashtra government-backed initiative which offers digital training courses on health modules, to undergraduates.
In addition, she said, “We also have a digital health foundation course for nursing, so that they get a hang of the healthcare technologies out there. This is to create awareness about the tools which are out there.”
Further talking about the skills needed for the Indian professionals and the country’s role as a lead in the industry, Monika Kochar, of DAKSHIN said that it is not just about India. “It is about what we learn from others and how others learn from us. It is also about learning the best practices, the challenges, and the limitations of all the countries in the Global South together.”
According to her, DAKSHIN is determined to address the gaps in their structure, in their systems, and how to strengthen them in due course of time.
