Dubai Medical University adopts artificial intelligence-powered tools to train students

Medical, pharmacy and nursing students at Dubai Medical University use AI-powered systems to train on diagnosis, how to make clinical decisions, and seek natural treatments.

These tools come within the framework of the university’s endeavors to integrate artificial intelligence into medical education using artificial intelligence-powered virtual characters, patient simulations, and education based on the virtual world “metaverse.”

Students wander among hundreds of medicinal plants in the campus nursery, and talk with Dr. Laila, an expert in alternative medicine and medicinal plants that runs on artificial intelligence.

Dr. Laila says on the screen, “My mission is to research and develop in the field of natural drugs that do not cause any side effects by taking advantage of the capabilities of more than 400 medicinal plants.”

In 2025, Dubai Medical University launched two virtual characters powered by artificial intelligence, Dr. Laila and Dr. Alia, Assistant Dean.

Head of the Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Department, Engineer Hessa Lootah, said that the two characters were developed within the university to provide students with programmed information that was subject to scientific scrutiny by specialists at the university.

Dr. Laila helps students explore natural remedies based on traditional medicine, while Dr. Alia provides leadership and student support in curriculum and administrative matters.

Hessa added, “Students enjoy the fact that they can consult Dr. Laila instead of referring to textbooks or spending hours researching.”

She added, “There is a risk of errors occurring, as happens in all artificial intelligence systems, but we have more control over that.”

Students are trained on devices that simulate patients and operate with artificial intelligence, including the doll Andrew, who is lying on a hospital bed in a simulation of a person who has been in an accident. Students examine Andrew, ask him questions, and practice clinical procedures on him.

College of Medicine student Mira Abdullah said, “It is really fun as first-year students to go through an experience like this because we don’t go to hospitals or do clinical training. We are put in a realistic situation. We have to act like real doctors.”

Shams Hammoud, a third-year student at the College of Pharmacy, said, “In this era, all people love to explore artificial intelligence or know what it is. Our university has provided it for us with ease, and in a way that it is available to us at any time, whether we are at home or at the university itself, this is a very easy thing for us, and as we become more we want to know information. We want to ask to know what each herb is for and how we want to use it, or for example if the patient has this disease, and how.” “We can treat him, because frankly, it is a very nice experience.”

The university stated that its evaluations showed that teaching time decreased by between 20 and 30 percent with the application of artificial intelligence techniques in lecture halls.

Hessa said, “We live in an era that is witnessing rapid technological transformations, especially in the field of artificial intelligence. There will always be a possibility that some will fear losing their jobs, especially in the health care sector, but I see it as a way to help students and enrich their educational experiences.”