CI MED Dean Highlights New Model for Training Tomorrow’s Surgeons in National Keynote

Carle Illinois College of Medicine Dean Mark Cohen delivered the keynote address at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Academy of Master Surgeon Educators® Symposium, highlighting CI MED’s engineering-based curriculum as a model for integrating artificial intelligence (AI), data science, technology, and innovation into medical education and training the medical workforce of the future.

Cohen presented “Innovations in Medical Education: Training the Surgical Workforce of Tomorrow” on September 11, 2026, in Chicago. The symposium brought together leaders in surgery and surgical education to explore how emerging technologies can help prepare the next generation of surgeons.

In his keynote, Cohen outlined how medical education must evolve alongside rapid advances in AI and other technologies transforming health care. He highlighted CI MED’s curriculum as an example of educating future physicians to identify clinical problems, collaborate across disciplines, and develop and evaluate innovative solutions to improve patient care.

At CI MED, innovation and engineering are integrated throughout the four-year curriculum, taking students from problem identification and idea generation to implementation in clinical environments. Students apply those skills through experiences including the IDEA course, capstone projects, and data science education.

Cohen emphasized that preparing physicians for an AI-enabled future requires more than teaching them to use individual tools. Future physicians must understand when AI is appropriate, critically evaluate its performance and limitations, and implement technology safely while maintaining independent clinical judgment.

He also highlighted CI MED’s approach to “AI-augmented” reasoning, in which learners first develop an independent clinical hypothesis and then use AI to test or broaden their thinking while remaining responsible for the final judgment. Cohen also discussed opportunities to use AI as an educational tool, including challenging students to critique AI-generated diagnoses and treatment recommendations to strengthen critical thinking.

The keynote placed AI within a broader vision for training physician-innovators, including applications in surgical skills training, simulation, extended reality, robotics, imaging, navigation, and data-driven health care delivery and optimization. 

Cohen, who was inducted into the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators in 2024, also serves on the symposium planning committee and co-chaired a panel on how the surgeon of tomorrow will be trained.