In a significant move to bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and clinical practice, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has announced a comprehensive, free online course on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Medical Education. Aimed at postgraduate doctors and faculty members, this initiative seeks to demystify AI for the medical community without requiring any technical expertise.
Course Structure and Global Faculty
The programme is a six-month intensive journey comprising 20 interactive modules, all delivered through live online sessions. The curriculum is meticulously designed with a strong focus on clinical applicability, ethics, patient safety, and accountability. A standout feature is that no prior technical or programming background is necessary to enrol, making it accessible to a wide range of medical professionals.
The sessions will be led by an esteemed panel of faculty from premier institutions across the globe. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from experts affiliated with the Mayo Clinic, Harvard University, University of Oxford, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, and other reputed organisations.
Eligibility, Application, and Certification Process
The course is open to a broad spectrum of professionals. Eligibility extends to ongoing NBEMS trainees, NBEMS alumni who qualified from the 2020 session onwards, faculty of NBEMS-accredited departments, and other eligible professionals.
Interested candidates can apply directly through the official portal at: natboard.edu.in/Sangam/index.php. The National Board has confirmed that no fee will be charged for participation.
To earn the digital course completion certificate, participants must meet two key criteria: attend at least 75 per cent of the live sessions and successfully complete the online assessment module. Attendance will be rigorously tracked using a two-point verification system at the start and end of each class.
How to Join the Live Sessions?
The detailed class schedule will be published on the official NBEMS website. To join a session, participants must click the 'Join the Class' link displayed next to the respective module. This link becomes active 30 minutes before the session starts and remains accessible for only 30 minutes after commencement.
Clicking the link redirects users to the online platform and automatically records their attendance at the session's start. To mark end-of-class attendance, participants must complete a short questionnaire and submit feedback via a link available for one hour after the session concludes.
Curriculum Focus and Learning Outcomes
The course is designed to equip doctors with practical, non-technical knowledge of AI. By the end of the programme, participants will be able to critically evaluate AI tools, models, and scientific literature for their clinical validity, utility, potential bias, and implications for patient safety.
A core objective is to strengthen clinical judgment, enabling doctors to discern when AI application is appropriate and when it is not. The curriculum also delves deeply into ethical, legal, privacy, and cybersecurity considerations tailored to the Indian healthcare landscape.
Participants will learn to integrate AI outputs into clinical decision-making through a patient-centred lens, collaborate effectively in multidisciplinary AI teams as domain experts, and uphold the highest standards of professionalism, accountability, and transparency in using AI-assisted tools across patient care, education, and research.
This initiative, announced on December 31, 2025, marks a pivotal step by NBEMS to future-proof medical education in India, ensuring that healthcare providers are not just users of technology but informed, critical, and ethical partners in the AI revolution.
