Conference Agenda

Background and Aim: Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing clinical practice, and consequently, the knowledge, skills, and competencies of the modern nursing workforce. Despite this, nursing education programs around the world still do not have a consistent approach to preparing students for safe practice in AI-driven healthcare environments, especially in terms of technical competencies, clinical decision-making, and ethical considerations. The purpose of this scoping review was to map the current evidence on the use of AI in pre-licensure and graduate nursing education, to identify the most common pedagogical approaches, and to identify key gaps that could guide curricular changes for digital healthcare.

Materials and Methods: The review was carried out following the Arksey and O'Malley framework, adapted by Levac et al., “and reported according to the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Peer-reviewed literature was searched systematically in PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and ERIC between January 2018 and December 2025. Articles covering AI in teaching, learning, curriculum, or competency development in undergraduate or postgraduate nursing programs were considered.

Results: Twenty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria. The key strategies were AI-based simulation, AI-assisted clinical reasoning, natural language processing (NLP)-based virtual patients, and AI-based virtual reality. Learner outcomes included improved clinical decision-making, more empathetic communication, greater digital literacy, and increased confidence in AI-powered tools. Identified barriers included faculty unpreparedness, inadequate infrastructure, and ethical issues. Few studies reported formal AI competency frameworks specific to nursing practice.

Conclusions: The integration of AI in nursing education is still in its infancy and remains fragmented. Structured competency frameworks, continuous faculty development, and curricula based on ethical principles are needed to prepare a digitally competent nursing workforce.

Background and Aim

The research and innovation (R&I) gap between EU-13 and EU-14 countries persists and, by several accounts, continues to widen, sustained by fragmented collaboration, brain drain, and uncertainty over the future of Widening funding. Structured programmes strengthening academic partnerships across the region remain scarce. We present the progress of Alliance4Life_BRIDGE (A4L_BRIDGE), a Horizon Europe European Excellence Initiative uniting twelve health-research institutions from eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) Widening countries to foster collaboration, academic excellence, and higher education in the R&I dimension.

Materials and Methods

We performed a narrative synthesis of A4L_BRIDGE activities between March 2024 and July 2026, focusing on transferable best practices.

Results

A4L_BRIDGE operates through eight thematic focus groups – Science Evaluation, Research Ethics & Integrity, Human Resources & Mobility, Grants & Research Funding, Core Facilities, Technology Transfer, Science Communication, and Data – providing a multifaceted framework spanning research culture to hands-on collaboration, while reflecting on the strengths and constraints of working in Widening countries. Beyond annual meetings and bilateral visits, the project has launched an e-learning platform offering self-paced and instructor-led courses, and a Virtual Research Centre connecting academic and non-academic staff across partner institutions, supported by a Seed Fund providing grants of up to €15,000 for small collaborative projects emerging from the Centre. In 2026, representatives of Vilnius University coordinated the first call for internships, successfully enabling 32 short on-site research visits (40.3 person-weeks) and 24 job-shadowing placements (16.4 person-weeks) for non-academic staff, reinforcing bilateral collaboration.

Conclusions

A4L_BRIDGE offers a replicable model of regional academic consolidation across Widening countries, providing scaffolding for the institutional development needed to close the R&I gap with Western European research and innovation ecosystems.

Background and Aim

Research competence is a core requirement for producing doctors capable of delivering high-quality, evidence-based clinical care. Yet in developing-country contexts such as Malaysia, little is known about how undergraduate medical students perceive research training, and whether gender or institutional type (public vs. private) shapes these attitudes. This study aimed to characterize Malaysian medical students' attitudes toward research and examine differences by gender and institution type.

Materials and Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted across 16 Malaysian medical institutions using the validated Students' Attitude toward Research (SAR) questionnaire, which assesses research activities, faculty involvement, and infrastructure. A total of 380 students participated (149 male, 231 female; 213 from public and 167 from private institutions). Independent t-tests compared attitude scores by gender and institution type.

Results

The mean total SAR score was 53.29 out of 75, reflecting a generally positive attitude toward research. Gender differences were minimal overall, though male students reported greater interest in research participation and higher satisfaction with library facilities. Institutional differences were more pronounced: public-institution students rated faculty involvement and research infrastructure significantly higher, while private-institution students reported greater exposure to statistical tools. The most positively rated item across all students was recognition of research's role in identifying problems; the most notable gap was insufficient faculty time for mentorship.

Conclusions

Despite positive overall attitudes, a persistent mentorship gap threatens to undercut research training at the undergraduate level. Institution-specific action is needed: public institutions should prioritize dedicated faculty research time, while private institutions should invest in research infrastructure and funding. Embedding structured research electives and mentorship schemes into core curricula, tailored to each institution type, offers a concrete pathway to closing these gaps and strengthening the research pipeline in Malaysian academic medicine.

Keywords: medical education; undergraduate research; academic medicine; cross-sectional study; institutional disparities

Background and Aim: AI-supported diagnostics promise earlier detection and more efficient care but expose healthcare institutions to legal, organisational, ethical and educational challenges. As the EU Artificial Intelligence Act intersects with the Medical Devices Regulation and the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation, institutions need clear operational guidance. This study aimed to translate EU requirements into a practical implementation framework and identify competencies required for safe clinical use.

Materials and Methods: An interdisciplinary doctrinal analysis of the EU AI Act, MDR, IVDR, European guidance and medical-legal literature was conducted. Obligations applying to healthcare institutions as deployers were mapped across the AI lifecycle and converted into operational steps. A detailed guideline and concise checklist were developed within a student research project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania. A structured expert survey was developed to assess relevance, completeness, clarity and practical usability.

Results: The study produced a six-stage framework: (1) determining whether a system falls within the AI Act and high-risk categories; (2) verifying system and provider compliance; (3) establishing governance, responsibilities and data-protection arrangements; (4) conducting local performance evaluation, training staff and integrating the system into clinical workflows; (5) ensuring intended-purpose use, meaningful human oversight, data quality, logging and incident management; and (6) periodic monitoring, reassessment and safe discontinuation. The framework identifies AI literacy as a patient-safety requirement. Clinicians must understand system purpose and limitations, interpret outputs critically, recognise automation bias, maintain decision-making authority and report anomalies.

Conclusions: Legal compliance for medical AI cannot be achieved through technical validation alone. It requires lifecycle governance linking regulation, the fulfilment of AI literacy obligations, clinical oversight and patient safety. The framework offers a transferable basis for institutional training and implementation programmes.

Keywords: EU AI Act; medical diagnostics; AI literacy; human oversight; healthcare governance.

Background and Aim:
Increasing medical student cohort sizes and limited faculty availability can reduce opportunities for directly observed history taking and structured feedback during early clinical skills training. At our institution, some first-year graduate-entry medical students completed patient histories without observation, with their first observed encounter occurring during mock Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). This quality improvement project evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of a peer-assisted history-taking workshop designed to increase opportunities for observed practice and feedback.

Methods:
Twenty-six first-year graduate-entry medical students voluntarily attended a one-hour workshop facilitated by a Clinical Teaching Fellow. Students completed curriculum-aligned simulated history-taking scenarios while peers observed using a structured feedback tool. Participants reflected on their performance before receiving peer feedback moderated by the facilitator. Anonymous pre- and post-workshop questionnaires assessed confidence and gathered qualitative feedback.

Results:
All 26 participants completed the pre-workshop questionnaire, and 16 (62%) completed the post-workshop questionnaire. Before the intervention, 61.5% agreed or strongly agreed that they felt confident taking a structured history, increasing to 100% of post-workshop respondents. Participants rated the workshop highly, particularly the facilitator’s feedback. Peer observation and feedback were also positively evaluated. Qualitative comments highlighted directly observed practice, structured feedback, and repeated rehearsal as key strengths, while suggestions included additional sessions and more OSCE-style scenarios.

Conclusions:
This peer-assisted history-taking workshop provided a feasible, low-resource method of increasing opportunities for observed practice within a resource-constrained undergraduate medical programme. Participants reported improved confidence and high satisfaction. However, objective measures of clinical performance were not assessed, and findings were limited by voluntary participation and a 62% post-intervention response rate. Future work should include objective assessments of history-taking competence to determine whether perceived benefits translate into improved clinical performance.

Background and Aim: Undergraduate medical education often under-prepares future physicians in substance use identification and management competencies, such as screening, and brief intervention, contributing to missed opportunities for early intervention. In Georgian primary care settings, physicians are poorly familiar with relevant legislation, and rarely apply structured screening instruments. Insufficient training is among the most cited barriers to evidence-based counseling. This study aimed to evaluate how MD curricula integrate substance use topics, whether core curricula specify dedicated learning outcomes on SUD, establishing a foundation for cross-country comparison. In this case, we present the results of the pilot-testing the future international survey developed to collect data for the main study.

Materials and Methods: We developed the survey instrument, structured around curriculum-integration domains including content coverage, presence of explicit learning outcomes addressing substance use and SUD, introduction of screening tools, practical skills training, and competency assessment. Items use Likert scoring, checkboxes, and open-ended questions. The instrument was piloted among faculty and curriculum leaders at David Tvildiani Medical University (DTMU), Georgia. In parallel, we reviewed DTMU’s MD curriculum against the same domains (using data from study program).

Results: Piloting survey and program analysis of DTMU revealed limited explicit learning outcomes addressing SUD and inconsistent introduction of screening tools within the core curriculum in majority of learning modules, paralleling the knowledge and screening gaps previously identified among practicing physicians.

Conclusions: Our findings identify key curricular areas where substance use education can be strengthened, effectively linking education, research, and clinical care. Developed using grounded theory based on stakeholder experiences, this pilot instrument offers a promising benchmarking tool for European medical curricula. Future refinement will incorporate input from curriculum leaders prior to wider European distribution, ultimately enabling comparative insights into regional educational practices and guiding future curriculum development.

Background: Physical examination is a core clinical skill that requires both technical ability and sensitive communication abilities. Traditional peer-based training may not adequately prepare students for physical and intimate examinations. Approaches emphasizing consent and patient autonomy are increasingly recognized as essential for patient safety and student readiness.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 158 third-year medical students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Medicine. A voluntary, anonymous questionnaire assessing attitudes toward physical and intimate examinations, including draping and consent practices, was administered. Data included demographic variables and Likert-scale assessments of comfort, preparedness, and educational effectiveness. Descriptive and comparative analyses were performed.

Results: The clinical skills course was associated with reduced discomfort with physical examination, with over 85% reporting moderate to significant improvement for both peer and patient examinations. Simulation models (80%), expert demonstration videos (70.6%), and draping techniques (81%) were perceived as beneficial. Male students reported higher baseline discomfort and greater difficulty with opposite-gender examinations, whereas female students showed greater improvement in communication skills and responsiveness to clinical skills teaching. Religious background, age, and personal relationship status were also associated with variations in comfort and attitudes toward intimate examinations.

Conclusions: Structured clinical skills training was associated with improvements in medical students’ comfort, confidence, and non-technical skills in physical examination. Educational approaches should account for demographic and sociocultural differences while emphasizing consent, communication, and patient centred care.

Background and Aim

The digitalization of Ukraine’s healthcare system and the widespread implementation of Medical Information Systems (MIS) require the development of appropriate competencies among medical students. However, introducing MIS into the clinical education program also requires training the educators themselves. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a comprehensive professional development methodology for faculty at Kharkiv National Medical University regarding the integration of MIS into the medical curriculum.

Materials and Methods

We utilized a secure test training environment of the Helsi MIS (Helsi Ukraine LLC) without access to real patients’ medical data. A preliminary survey of 93 faculty members was conducted regarding their prior experience with the selected MIS. Subsequently, we developed a training course titled “Basic Digital Competency Skills for Physicians Using the Helsi MIS,” comprising 5 synchronous online sessions for 40 faculty members. Upon completion, a post-course survey was administered to 37 participants to evaluate the training’s quality.

Results

The preliminary survey of the academic community revealed that 57.0% of respondents had no prior MIS experience, and 86% rated their proficiency as “beginner.” The session topics focused on the specifics of a physician’s workflow in primary care and included patient registration, conducting medical consultations, issuing specialist referrals, and generating e-prescriptions. In the post-course survey, 62.2% of respondents rated the course as “excellent,” 68.3% reported an improvement in their MIS skills, and 70.3% believed they would be able to independently apply the acquired skills in their teaching and clinical practice.

Conclusions

The developed and successfully validated course on enhancing physicians’ digital competency in using MIS prepared 37 trainers, who will ensure the further dissemination of this expertise during the instruction of various clinical disciplines, aiming to prepare qualified physicians for the modern labor market.

Background and Aim:

Despite existing evidence that academic interests in secondary school students are associated with their later academic careers, early exposure to health sciences remains limited in many educational settings, potentially affecting future healthcare workforce development. In collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine at Vilnius University (VU MF), the Lithuanian Medicine Olympiad (LitMO) was established in 2025 to promote students’ interest in medicine and health sciences through a national, student-led educational initiative.

Materials and Methods:

2025 LitMO was conducted in two stages: an online qualifying round open to all Lithuanian students, which attracted over 1100 registrations and second stage hosted at VU MF, to which the top 68 students were invited. A voluntary anonymous post-event survey among 134 first-round participants assessed LitMO’s influence and achievements.

Results:

LitMO became one of the few national medical olympiads eligible for participation in International Medicine and Disease Olympiad, following established competitions in the United States and China. Among identified national medical olympiads, LitMO is distinguished by combining an online qualifying round with a live final competition and a broad range of theoretical medical challenges. Among respondents, 63.5% intended to pursue health sciences and 53.7% reported that LitMO significantly influenced their study choice. Additionally, 77% of respondents felt an improvement in their health-related knowledge, and 98% evaluated the initiative positively.

Conclusions:

LitMO demonstrates that a national, medical student-led competition can promote health sciences, support informed career choice, and improve health literacy among secondary school students. The Lithuanian Medicine Olympiad represents an innovative and scalable model for encouraging secondary school students’ engagement with health sciences and supporting informed career exploration.

Background and Aim

Ensuring that clinical competencies acquired during training are effectively transferred to workplace practice remains a major challenge in competency-based medical education (CBME). Although transfer of learning has been widely studied, limited evidence explains how learner-, educator-, workplace-, and organizational-level factors interact across the continuum of medical education. This ongoing doctoral study aims to identify the determinants of clinical competence transfer and to inform educational management strategies that strengthen workplace learning and faculty development.

Materials and Methods

An exploratory sequential mixed-methods design was employed. The qualitative phase comprised semi-structured interviews with residency graduates and clinical educators from a public medical university. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings from both participant groups, together with established transfer-of-learning theories and CBME frameworks, informed the development of a theory-informed questionnaire for medical educators, which subsequently underwent expert content validation. The quantitative phase is currently underway to examine the prevalence and relative importance of the identified factors and to explore the professional development needs of clinical educators.

Results

Preliminary findings indicate that clinical competence transfer is shaped by the interaction of individual, educational, workplace, and organizational factors. Both residency graduates and clinical educators identified authentic clinical participation, graduated autonomy, meaningful feedback, supervision, reflective practice, and a supportive learning climate as key facilitators of transfer. Participants also highlighted barriers including inconsistent workplace supervision, limited opportunities for deliberate practice, resource constraints, and insufficient constructive alignment between intended learning outcomes, teaching, workplace experiences, and assessment. Faculty interviews further emphasized the need for systematic faculty development, stronger educational leadership, and institutional support to sustain effective competence transfer across the medical education continuum.

Conclusions

Optimizing clinical competence transfer requires coordinated educational, organizational, and workplace strategies rather than isolated curricular interventions. These preliminary findings provide an evidence-informed foundation for strengthening curriculum design, faculty development, and educational management in CBME.