Education Technology
EdTech revolutionises education by integrating technology into learning, enhancing teaching, and fostering better educational outcomes. The following are the ongoing initiatives and projects.
Artificial Intelligence
Modern artificial intelligence (AI) technologies make use of large datasets to simulate human-like decision-making processes (i.e., discriminative AI) and to generate text, images, and data (i.e., generative AI). In the context of education, these technologies have the potential to improve teaching, learning, assessment, and well-being.
​
As a pioneer in the adoption of advanced educational technologies, HKUMed will continue to develop both hardware and software for AI applications and adopt innovative pedagogical approaches that harness the power of AI technologies to meet the educational needs of future medical and healthcare professionals. SIMHSE will continue to support these EdTech initiatives, with the latest one spearheading the development and appropriation of generative AI (GenAI) for medical and healthcare education.
Our in-house resources supporting the effective application of GenAI in teaching and learning are under development.
For more information, please visit our Resource Hub
​
​
Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality
Educational technologies have created many new possibilities in the way we make learning happen. Since the advent of virtual reality (VR) technology, it has been gradually adapted into medical education at HKUMed. In the past several years, we have developed and improved the pedagogy of Virtual-Reality-Enabled Tasks (VRETs) and successfully implemented VR technology in the gross anatomy dissection lab and molecular biology in the undergraduate curricula. The VR dissection course has been fully integrated, as a crucial addition to our cadaver-based gross anatomy education, into our first and second year of MBBS curricula. The VR technology has also been adapted in Biomedical Sciences, Nursing, Dental Surgery, and Biochemistry programmes.
​
HKUMed is one of the first medical schools in the world to systematically deploy VR technology on a large scale to the undergraduate curriculum. The newly established technology-enhanced active learning space, the TechMezz at Yu Chun Keung Medical Library, provides the students with access to the latest VR and digital anatomy tools to advance their understanding outside the lab and classrooms. Our endeavours in developing and adapting advanced technologies, including VR, have been well received by the international medical and health sciences education community, with our achievements being disseminated in international conferences, journal articles, and book chapters.
Ultrasound Teaching for the Clinical Years of the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum
The teaching of ultrasonography principles and practice was introduced to the MBBS curriculum more than a decade ago in anticipation of its common utility in clinical practice in the near future. The point-of-care ultrasound device, known to many as "tomorrow’s stethoscope", is now increasingly being used by clinicians at the bedside to aid diagnosis and the performance of minor invasive procedures.
In parallel with such developments in the field, our ultrasonography curriculum has also evolved, with elements of teaching spanning all years of the programme. With a generous donation from the Tam Shiu Charitable Trust, HKUMed has acquired over 500 portable ultrasound units to loan to each senior student an ultrasound device through selected clinical rotations. Teachers from various specialties, including surgery, critical care, emergency and internal medicine, orthopaedics as well as obstetrics and gynaecology are able to teach the students the uses of ultrasound within their specialties. Already armed with necessary understanding of the related theories and knobology, the students are then able to conveniently practise using their own devices during their clinical attachments.
Telehealth
Telehealth, which involves the use of telecommunications technologies in medical practices, such as tele-consultation for outpatients and tele-pharmacy, is widely practised in MBBS clinical teaching.
