Catch up quick: UT San Antonio and UT Health San Antonio announced the combined doctor of medicine and master of science in artificial intelligence program in 2023, before they merged. At the time it was the first known such degree in the nation.

What they're saying: "There is virtually no part of health care that is not touched in some way by the current AI technologies," Ron Rodriguez, director of the dual degree program and professor of medical education at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of UT San Antonio, tells Axios.

• "We did not anticipate the speed and depth with which it (AI) has advanced" since launching the program, he adds.

State of play: Students learn everything from the fundamentals of machine learning to the ethics of using AI in medicine, Rodriguez says.

We spoke with student Chris Mao, who is set to graduate in May from the dual degree program.

• He's also an incoming internal medicine resident at UT Health San Antonio.

Some courses have stood out to Mao. In a computer vision class, he says, AI helped in "taking one high-resolution image and transforming it into a different modality."

• For example, AI could take an X-ray image and turn it into something an MRI would output.
• "It's just so that we would have a better view of what's going on inside the artery itself … and that would affect clinical judgment afterward."

Here's what else Mao had to say.

On what his degree has taught him about the ethics of using AI in medicine:

Mao says he's thinking about how much confidence AI bots have when they give false information (also known as hallucinations).

• "I think our generative AI course really hammered down on just how [confident] hallucinations occur, how these models are actually working behind the scenes, ways that we can help reduce these hallucinations."
• "And how these services are also not necessarily safe for you to put all the patient information" into.

On what he wishes people knew about AI use in medicine:

"I hope that they don't think that AI is making all the decisions behind the scenes. It is true that a lot of doctors and a lot of trainees are using AI … But at the end of the day, we go through medical school and go through all of our training because we really want to understand the pathologies, help take care of our patients and really do what is best."

On how the dual degree helps set him apart:

"It gives me another tool under my tool belt. I'm able to tackle problems that you traditionally can't answer without AI."