This morning I learned that the University of Oxford’s AIEOU team published its Shared Research Agenda. I was thrilled to contribute to the work and to see such a thoughtful, human-centred approach reflected in the final piece.

It is an important paper because it gauges where many people’s heads are at with AI and its application in education. It also shares numerous questions being raised by us all regarding AI’s potential influence on human flourishing, learning, agency, equity, and governance. On a side note, if you’re passionate about AI and education, I’d encourage you to peruse these questions for potential dissertation topics :).

Reading it also made me think about the evidence needed to guide responsible use in education. Every week there’s another paper suggesting some kind of cognitive impact. We need this type of grounded, interdisciplinary thinking to explore this space right now.

Learn more about AI in Education at Oxford University (AIEOU): https://aieou.web.ox.ac.uk/node/4111406

Download the Shared Research Agenda:
Ratner, S., Nie, D., Williams, R., Wonnacott, E., & Trefethen, A. (2026). AIEOU shared research agenda 2026. Department of Education, University of Oxford. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:325b6269-35d7-46a6-945f-3b310b662c37

AI’s expansion in the academic and clinical learning environment is raising questions about the role of advanced technologies in education and patient care. This panel explores how primary care clinicians and medical educators are exploring the application of AI, in addition to its tensions, opportunities, and concerns in its current and future use.

The focus of this conversation is to share insights, research, perceptions, and experiences with the use of AI in our academic and healthcare settings. 

Learn more and register here: https://familypractice.ubc.ca/april-2026-research-rounds-a-in-family-medicine/

Submit and vote on questions you’d like to see during this Q&A: https://www.questionwave.com/q/ej0Yjkkf79

Hello Simulation Community! I’m sharing the request below on behalf of Respiratory Therapists Without Borders, a volunteer-run Canadian charity currently supporting a 200-bed mission hospital in rural Nepal.

The organization is primarily seeking simulation-related supplies and equipment to help strengthen local healthcare education and build simulation capacity in a training-focused hospital setting. In addition, there is interest in connecting with simulation labs or educators in Canada who may be open to hosting an observer visit or site visit this summer.

If you or your organization have the capacity to support this initiative, whether through equipment donations, advice, mentorship, or an opportunity to observe simulation programming, please reach out directly using the contact information in the email below.

Thank you, everyone, for considering how you might support this meaningful global health education effort.

Contact Information:
Eric Cheng, RRT, CRE, FCSRT
Simulation Based Education MSc Candidate 2028
Co-Founder & Co-Culture Creator
Respiratory Therapists Without Borders
Registered Canadian Charity
eric@rtwb.ca || www.rtwb.ca
+977.980.473.9485 (Nepal)
+1.778.807.9117 (Canada)

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of presenting at the Chilliwack General Hospital Preceptor Retreat on AI in medical education. We explored how AI can support faculty development through stronger narrative assessment, more thoughtful feedback practices, careful use of AI as a data analyst, and practical frameworks for evaluating tools before adopting them into teaching and assessment. To accompany the session, I also created a workbook designed to help participants engage with the material in a more applied and interactive way. You can check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gusS_ZnG

My sincere thanks to UBC’s Chilliwack Family Practice Residency Site, and to Dr. Alison Henry and her team, for inviting me out. I appreciated the warm welcome, the thoughtful discussion, and the opportunity to contribute to an important conversation about how we support educators in using AI wisely.

Primary Compassionate Care Hub Grand Opening, Abuja!

The Primary Compassionate Care Initiative (PCCI) began during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, after I connected with Dr. Aisha Liman through the MIT COVID-19 Challenge Global Hackathon.

What started as an urgent conversation about community needs and public health grew into a long-term commitment to building compassionate, practical, locally anchored health initiatives.

Five years and 100 mentees later, we opened the PCCI Hub in Abuja. On February 14, 2026, Dr. Liman officially opened our new home base. This hub gives us a dedicated place to meet, plan, train, mentor, coordinate and support community programs that advance SDG 3 (Health), SDG 4 (Education), and SDG 5 (Gender Equality), with a particular focus on mentorship and empowering women in healthcare.

We were deeply honoured to be joined by speakers and supporters who helped mark this milestone, including Her Excellency Aisha Babangida, Bashir Adebayo Elegbede (MScIH)(PhD), Hajia Fatima Danladi, Dr. Ayodele Bankole, Dr. Hamza Jakada, Dr. Zainab Yaro, Barr. Edith Gumut, Mrs. Bilkisu Muhammed, Mrs. Amina Abba Zoru, and Mrs. Mirabelle Onyeka. Their presence and insights reinforced what this work is about: building stronger systems through partnership, community trust, and action that is evidence-informed and people-centred.

This opening is a milestone and a beginning. We are building with purpose, with partners, and with communities, and we are excited for what comes next.

If you would like to support, collaborate, or learn more, I would love to connect.

Learn more about PCCI and the new hub here: https://www.primarycompassionatecare.org/

“I recently wrote that we should be deeply concerned about a world where connections are forged without friction, as we’re seeing resilience muscles atrophy, especially among young people. In my conversation with Timothy Snyder, he shared a related concern about the lack of friction in the way we conceptualize politics. “People talk about the Insurrection Act or martial law, whether they’re for them or against them, like [we’re in] a video game and you just level up,” he said. “It’s not like that.” In reality, politics is a messy, unpredictable struggle that favors the most resilient. Deploying the language of video games — “unlocks,” “cheat codes,” “speedrunning,” etc. — lulls us into believing that political change, whether in the direction of dictatorship or democracy, is a frictionless experience, achievable by pressing the right combination of buttons. 

This isn’t a game. Resist and Unsubscribe is a one-month campaign to demonstrate political power both to consumers and those we seek to influence. Smashing the unsubscribe button won’t defeat the final boss, but making that small sacrifice builds (some) resilience. It also lays down a marker for battles to come. As Timothy Snyder explained, we’re making it clear that there will be severe consequences if the regime attempts to steal the midterms. Recognizing the friction in our politics isn’t an invitation to opt for the path of least resistance; it teaches us that saving democracy requires the same things that build lasting relationships: showing up, enduring discomfort, and wielding the power we actually have rather than waiting for someone else to fix our problem. Finally, action absorbs anxiety. It feels good to do something with others — that whole community thing. Or put another way, stop doomscrolling/hectoring/complaining … and do something.”

Read more here.

Flowers have played a significant role in society, focusing on their aesthetic value rather than their food potential. This study’s goal was to look into flowering plants for everything from health benefits to other possible applications. This review presents detailed information on 119 species of flowers with agri-food and health relevance. Data were collected on their family, species, common name, commonly used plant part, bioremediation applications, main chemical compounds, medicinal and gastronomic uses, and concentration of bioactive compounds such as carotenoids and phenolic compounds.

In this respect, 87% of the floral species studied contain some toxic compounds, sometimes making them inedible, but specific molecules from these species have been used in medicine. Seventy-six percent can be consumed in low doses by infusion. In addition, 97% of the species studied are reported to have medicinal uses (32% immune system), and 63% could be used in the bioremediation of contaminated environments. Significantly, more than 50% of the species were only analysed for total concentrations of carotenoids and phenolic compounds, indicating a significant gap in identifying specific molecules of these bioactive compounds. These potential sources of bioactive compounds could transform the health and nutraceutical industries, offering innovative approaches to combat oxidative stress and promote optimal well-being.”

Learn more here: Exploring Plants with Flowers: From Therapeutic Nutritional Benefits to Innovative Sustainable Uses via NIH.

Spent two days nerding out at AAMC’s “2026 Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning: Digital Demonstrations Virtual Conference” and loved it.

What landed for me:

1. AI is an incredible tool when it comes to synthesizing data and finding patterns in these massive sets, but at this point in its development, it fails to convey the passion and excitement that come with teaching a subject you love and live through your being. It’s that energy, transmitted when we are talking about a topic, that engages and captures learners’ attention. It’s our story, and the narrative we create, that helps the learner retain the moral on a cellular level. Some people think we can offload that to AI, but the reality is that there’s nothing more satisfying (to me) than looking into the eyes of another human being and saying, “Oh my gosh, you are never going to believe this! NASA just got this crazy, super-close image of Jupiter, and it looks just like van Gogh’s Starry Night…and!!”
2. AI can strengthen clinical reasoning teaching if we design it like a coach and not an answer machine. When I think about faculty development for healthcare professionals, AI can help craft a learning journey tailored to their needs and interests. However, it’s still important to connect a human in that process because they represent not just the coach, but also the learner.
3. Narrative assessment and feedback can be improved at scale, but only if we protect meaning, context, and fairness. We have a responsibility to educate faculty on how to write meaningful assessments about their learners. AI can assist by providing a framework for that, but at the end of the day, the quality of the data going in is more important.

I am leaving with a shortlist of ideas to bring into faculty development and program improvement work, especially around assessment quality, defensible decision-making, and accreditation readiness. For accreditation, I think many medical education programs are exploring the use of AI. Based on what I learned, accreditation bodies have not provided much guidance on the use of AI in reporting. One institution wisely suggested that you disclose the use of AI in the reporting process and that humans reviewed both the input and output data. Great advice and great conference!

#MedicalEducation #AI #Assessment #FacultyDevelopment #ProgramEvaluation #EthicsInAI

Here are some major upcoming events in 2026 where artificial intelligence intersects with medical education, health sciences, and university-level research. These include conferences, summits, and academic gatherings that are either explicitly focused on AI in medical teaching and training, or closely related fields (AI in healthcare, precision medicine, digital innovation) with strong relevance to universities and educators:

🎓 Medical Education and AI-Focused Conferences

1. Innovations in Medical Education Conference (University of Miami) – March 26-27, 2026
A dedicated two-day conference on integrating AI into medical education, with panels and workshops on curriculum design, teaching technologies, ethics, and AI tools for assessment and learning. 2. International Conference on Medical Education, Health Sciences & Patient Care – Paris, October 21-22, 2026
Broad medical education conference with sessions spanning innovation, pedagogy, and technological applications including AI in training and healthcare delivery. 3. 23rd Innovations in Medical Education (USC Online Conference) – February 11-12, 2026
Annual medical education event hosted by the University of Southern California, offering virtual participation and global engagement in education innovation (likely includes AI-related topics). 4. 8th Midlands Medical Education Conference – 2026 (UK)
Regional medical education event including themes on embracing AI and digital tools in medical teaching across universities.

🧠 AI and Medicine / Healthcare Innovation Events

These gatherings are broader than pure medical education but are highly relevant to academics, researchers, and faculty exploring AI in healthcare teaching, research skills, and clinical workflows:

5. AIME 2026 – Artificial Intelligence in Medicine – Ottawa, Canada, July 7-10, 2026
International conference on AI and medicine hosted at the University of Ottawa with deep ties to academic research and cross-disciplinary scholarship. 6. International Conference on Precision Medicine and AI Healthcare – Prague, July 27-28, 2026
Global forum for clinicians, researchers, and educators on AI’s role in precision medicine and data science, often including academic perspectives. 7. AI4Health: Improve Health Through Artificial Intelligence Conference – University of Florida campus (2026)
University-hosted event combining AI healthcare research, training opportunities, and academic discussion. 8. AI Summit (Mayo Clinic) – Rochester, MN, June 4-5, 2026
While broader in scope, this summit addresses AI in clinical settings and systems which complements medical education on real-world applications.

🎓 Education & AI Broadly Relevant

9. AI + Education Summit 2026 (Stanford Accelerator for Learning & HAI)
Though not solely medical, this high-impact summit brings AI education thought leaders, including applications relevant to health professions education and curriculum design.

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📌 Tips for Academic Participation

• Early planning and abstract submissions often open months ahead of events like AIME and HealthAI2026.

Many conferences offer workshops or tracks on AI ethics, curriculum innovation, and experiential learning that are especially useful for faculty and graduate scholars.

Check university event calendars (e.g., Stanford HAI, medical school education departments) for unofficial symposia or local AI in medical education workshops throughout the year.