Technology, Healthcare & Inequality

Timeline

Summer 2026

Description

Technology in healthcare has developed rapidly over the past few decades. Medical education has needed to adapt to prepare healthcare practitioners to use new and constantly evolving technologies in their future practice. A few surveys and case studies have indicated an increase in AI and technology-based curriculum in the US medical education system, however, very few studies have systematically examined how the use of healthcare technology has been integrated into healthcare education in the US. 

This project is particularly focused on nursing curricula, and will involve original data collection using content analysis.

Key questions we will answer include:

• What technologies are being included in medical training?
• How prevalent or consistent are these teachings across institutions?
• Are these teachings integrated into the main curriculum, or as electives?
• Is there a focus on ethics in healthcare technology use?
• What is the sentiment around these technologies? (E.g., excitement? concern?)

From Team Leader Fatima Fairfax:

"I think nursing is an understudied population in medical sociology, at least in my sphere of research. Nurses interface with as many patients as doctors, and often for longer periods of time. They do a lot of intake and data entry, so understanding how training occurs for both physicians and nurses feels important to understand the integration of these technologies into healthcare.

"I'm interested in all the human aspects that have to do with healthcare technology use. So, who is creating and programming them, who is using them and how, and who is receiving care? Understanding how providers, who are integral in the integration of these technologies into the healthcare system, are being taught around these technologies feels like an important piece of the puzzle. Ultimately, I think having this information may help illuminate where healthcare is heading with the next generation of providers, and give a better understanding of what ethics and safeguards are being taught alongside training in use of these technologies."

Team

Members

• Latesha Harris, postdoctoral fellow
• Fatima Fairfax, graduate fellow
• Victoria Ayodele, undergraduate fellow
• Heyweté Casimiro, undergraduate fellow
• Haynes Lewis, undergraduate fellow

Leaders

• Team Advisor: Keisha Bentley-Edwards, Ph.D. (School of Medicine)