From “deep fake” videos to concerns about student cheating, artificial intelligence (AI) software is at the forefront of conversation and debate. While the topic seems to bring both excitement and skepticism, it’s evident that there are important implications for health care and academia. 

So what are these implications? VCU School of Pharmacy Associate Professor Dayanjan Wijesinghe, Ph.D., and Ph.D. candidate Tyler Wagner, Pharm.D., sat down to discuss the effects of the software and how it can shape the future of pharmacy. 

How do AI software, such as ChatGPT, have the potential to change pharmacy practice? 

Wijesinghe: With AI as a tool, you will always be at the leading edge of knowledge. Scientific papers are dense. It takes so much time to read and understand them while still doing our main jobs. With the summarizing capabilities of such technologies, I can efficiently stay up to date on new research. Not to mention the language itself. While there is continued value in translating English language documents for use in non-English speaking countries, translating AI software can be a useful tool to quicken understanding of publications in various languages, broadening access to new research.

Wagner: I believe that AI software has the potential to revolutionize pharmacy education and practice by enhancing the learning experience for trainees and developing programs and applications that can ultimately improve patient outcomes and reduce medication errors. AI should be viewed as a tool that can supplement our knowledge and experiences while improving our performance as a profession. With the right prompts or directions, it has the ability to process and analyze vast amounts of data much more quickly and accurately than a human could, while identifying patterns and insights that may not be immediately apparent. This makes a great resource to assist pharmacists and researchers in making informed decisions, solving complex problems and improving their overall understanding of a subject.

Where have you already seen AI platforms change education? 

Wijesinghe: One of the academic arguments against software such as ChatGPT is that if ChatGPT does the thinking for students then students won’t learn how to think. However, there are beneficial tools within ChatGPT that function as guardrails which limits the scope to a certain area. For example, passing the system command, “Steerability: Socratic tutor” will enforce a cooperative argumentative dialogue between the AI and the student — the Socratic method — instead of a direct answer to a question. The Socratic Method encompasses an interactive dialogue between the instructor and learners. By presenting stimulating inquiries, the educator guides the conversation, while students actively participate by posing their own questions. The exchange continues in a reciprocal manner and is a highly active way of learning. As a professor, I don’t have the time to sit down and implement the Socratic method with over 100 students. Using a custom GPT API-driven version of GPT and enabling this steerability function, I can create a Socratic tutor for each one of my students.

Wagner: The University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy has been an early adopter of using AI models to enhance pharmacy education. In 2018, Jeff Nagge, Pharm.D., a clinical associate professor at the School of Pharmacy there, designed a professional development course called Management of Oral Anticoagulant Therapy — MOAT Online. The course uses an AI platform to teach pharmacists the principles of warfarin management, a medication with a complex dosing regimen and drug interaction profile used to prevent blood clots. Through the AI platform, he was able to develop a virtual clinic where learners experience every type of patient scenario for warfarin management, allowing the trainee to be more prepared for real-world scenarios.

How are students using AI software in relation to pharmacy practice and education? 

Wagner: One way I’ve used ChatGPT in my Ph.D. program is to supplement my understanding of complex statistical methods. After reading manuscripts, program guides and textbooks on a method, in my case propensity score matching, I can then turn to ChatGPT to better understand nuances within the method. For example, I built statistical code to match patients between a control group and a treatment group. I was able to turn to ChatGPT to better understand the difference between greedy and optimal matching to confirm the decisions I was making for my model. ChatGPT is also capable of providing sample code for when I want to double-check my programming — providing code snippets and an explanation. The AI platform provided me with valid code that I both confirmed via the SAS software and SAS program guides.

How does using technologies such as ChatGPT push pharmacy practice forward? 

Wijesinghe: Pharmacists would be moving toward what they like the most, which is therapy and therapy management, while staying up to date on the most current information without getting information overload. If used properly, you will be able to improve your lateral thinking capabilities. For example, if a medication is used for a specific disease, and this other disease has similar symptoms, I could ask, “Would this medication help this other disease?” Using integrated voice interfaces such as those used by the Bing app running GPT4 on the back end, you can do your research while you’re driving. Again, you simply will be on the cutting edge of knowledge, which ultimately pushes pharmacy practice forward.

Wagner: I think AI technologies allow for a more advanced learning environment in which trainees can gain practical experience in managing complex patient scenarios within a controlled environment without any risk to real patients. In the future, ChatGPT or another platform could improve the efficiency and accuracy of medication management. Pharmacists could use AI to assist with drug information inquiries, allowing them to quickly and accurately answer complex questions from patients and healthcare providers. The key to utilizing ChatGPT for medication management and patient counseling is to have a validated model that maintains a high level of accuracy and does not provide misinformation. By ensuring the reliability of the generated responses, ChatGPT or other AI software could effectively support pharmacists in providing patient care and enhancing pharmacy and medical practices.

Should pharmacists, pharmacies and academia embrace these technologies?

Wijesinghe: Absolutely! AI models like GPT have the potential to vastly improve efficiency in communication, patient care and learning outcomes. In pharmacies, GPT can streamline administrative tasks such as patient record keeping, prescription management and inventory control. It can also enhance patient counseling by providing personalized medication advice, identifying potential drug interactions and explaining complex medical information. In academia, GPT's data analysis capabilities can support research and literature reviews, while its ability to provide personalized learning resources and explain complex concepts can enhance teaching. 

However, the adoption of GPT should be accompanied by measures to address potential concerns related to data privacy, the accuracy of AI-generated advice, and the need for human oversight, through stringent guidelines and continuous validation of AI systems.

Wagner: I believe that pharmacists should not only embrace these technologies, but they should have a baseline understanding of how to effectively utilize them. It is important to recognize the limitations of individual technologies, such as the current model of ChatGPT generating fake citations, and to establish guardrails to use the software in an ethical manner. Trainees within academia can supplement what they learn in class by asking AI models specific questions and prompts to gain additional insights. Entrepreneurs who are wanting to open a pharmacy or implement a new service can use AI to help them develop a business plan or outline their goals and develop standard operating procedures. Pharmacists can embrace these technologies to develop their patient counseling points — ideally utilizing a software that is up to date that can accurately read and assess up-to-date literature and provide valid references.

 

The Center for Pharmacy Practice Innovation at the VCU School of Pharmacy helps pharmacists optimize patient outcomes by being a leader in transforming ambulatory and community pharmacy practice and advancing pharmacists’ roles on patient-centered, collaborative care teams. Training our pharmacists and students to understand and implement these new strategies is key to pushing pharmacy practice forward. Learn more at cppi.pharmacy.vcu.edu/.