This practical introductory course equips busy healthcare professionals with the skills to confidently use prompt engineering and AI language models to improve everyday clinical workflows. The course focuses on crafting effective prompts to enhance documentation, decision-making, and patient communication while ensuring ethical and safe AI use in healthcare settings.
DISCLAIMER: This course provides educational tools only. All AI outputs must be independently verified by a qualified clinician. No medical advice is offered. Discuss AI use with your institution to comply with local regulations.
Contents
1. Introduction to AI and prompt engineering in healthcare
Welcome
Pre-training survey
Learning objectives
Overview of AI language models
Role of prompt engineering in optimizing AI outputs
Clinical use cases: documentation, decision support, patient communication
Module summary
Quick quiz
2. Fundamentals of effective prompt engineering
Learning objectives
Anatomy of a prompt: clarity, context, and constraints
Types of prompts: open-ended, structured, and task-specific
Common pitfalls in prompt design
Module summary
Quick quiz
3. Prompt engineering for clinical documentation
Learning objectives
Prompts for generating SOAP notes, discharge summaries, and progress reports
Structuring prompts to align with EHR systems and regulatory standards
Reducing documentation errors through iterative prompt refinement
Module summary
Quick quiz
4. Prompt engineering for clinical decision support
Learning objectives
Designing prompts for differential diagnoses and treatment planning
Incorporating clinical guidelines and patient context into prompts
Validating AI outputs against medical standards
Module summary
Quick quiz
5. Prompt engineering for patient communication and education
Learning objectives
Prompts for explaining diagnoses, treatment plans, and follow-up instructions
Tailoring language for diverse patient populations
Ethical considerations in AI-generated patient communication
Module summary
Quick quiz
6. Ethics, safety, and implementation in clinical practice
Learning objectives
Ethical considerations: bias, privacy, and informed consent
Regulatory compliance (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR)
Strategies for iterative prompt testing and validation
Implementing AI tools in clinical settings
Module summary
Quick quiz
7. Graduation: Prompt Engineering in Clinical Workflow
Final course takeaway – your prompt engineering toolkit