Five Main Themes and Final Thoughts:

After reviewing the transcript and reflecting on this meaningful discussion, I identified five main themes that stood out to me as the most important takeaways. These themes highlight key lessons from Dr. Hammoud and Dr. Baba and offer insights that I believe are highly relevant to future healthcare professionals, including myself and many other NAAMA NextGen members. 

1. Embracing AI as a Tool for Efficiency and Personalization

Both speakers shared how they integrate AI into their daily work to improve efficiency.

Dr. Hammoud explained,

"I don't do anything in my daily work without ChatGPT. I use it to the maximum. And it saves me a lot of time."

She described using AI to summarize documents, prepare reports, and pull themes from survey data.

Dr. Baba shared how AI helped him streamline educational tasks:

"I took the transcripts for the lectures... and asked ChatGPT... to retrieve all the testable high-yield concepts and create multiple choice questions."

They emphasized that AI allows healthcare professionals and educators to spend less time on routine tasks and more time focusing on teaching, mentorship, and patient care.

2. Responsible Use of AI and the Importance of Human Expertise

Both speakers stressed the importance of maintaining strong clinical reasoning skills despite new technological tools.

Dr. Hammoud noted,

"Just because I give you a stethoscope doesn't mean you know how to use it. AI is a tool. It’s not going to teach you the foundational knowledge."

Dr. Baba added,

"You should always treat AI as an ancillary tool that should support but never replace your expert decision."

They agreed that responsible and ethical use of AI depends on a solid foundation of clinical knowledge, critical thinking, and independent judgment.

3. Social Media as a Platform for Education, Networking, and Professional Growth

The speakers discussed how social media can enhance professional growth when used thoughtfully.

Dr. Baba shared how his department used social media to promote their residency program during Match season:

"We had a team working on pushing those results on Twitter and Instagram... and we got 22,000 views for that post."

He emphasized that effective social media use can elevate a department’s visibility to prospective applicants and create a stronger sense of community among current members.

Beyond recruitment, Dr. Baba described how social media broadens access to professional opportunities across geographic boundaries:

"We live in a world that’s now a small village. So we have people reaching out to us from all sorts, all different parts of the world, like they're interested in joining our department."

Dr. Hammoud shared examples of how social media led to lasting professional collaborations during the COVID-19 pandemic. She recounted,

"I connected with a medical student who now is a fellow, and... we published about 12 papers before ever meeting in person."

She explained that meaningful connections can be built based on shared academic interests and thoughtful engagement, even without face-to-face meetings. Hammoud also emphasized that smart engagement on social media begins with asking good questions and demonstrating genuine passion for the field, not by directly requesting mentorship without context.

Both speakers showed how social media, when used wisely, can build networks, expand learning, and open new professional opportunities.

4. Staying Current with Rapid Technological Change

The speakers emphasized the importance of staying adaptable as healthcare technologies evolve.

Dr. Hammoud encouraged participants to try new tools:

"I'm willing to pilot anything. I'm willing to try anything, and I'll tell you what's good about it, what's bad, and I help you improve it."

She shared her experience piloting the AI-powered Ambient documentation tool, which improved her workflow and patient interactions. This tool captures clinical conversations between patient and physician, generates notes automatically, and allows providers to focus more on the patient instead of typing during visits. 

Dr. Baba explained his approach to keeping up with innovation, noting that while he does not actively seek out every new trend, he remains connected enough through professional networks and peers to recognize important advancements. He said,

"If something is big enough, it will reach me."

He added that innovations worth adopting are usually shared through professional organizations, journals, and word-of-mouth among colleagues. 

Both emphasized that openness to new tools, active engagement in professional networks, and curiosity are essential for staying informed.

5. The Vision for the Future: Precision Medicine and Precision Education

The speakers discussed how technology is driving more personalized approaches to healthcare and education.

Dr. Baba described how technology is moving medicine toward highly individualized care based on molecular and genetic profiles. He explained,

"We're just using medicine nowadays in a general manner, in a general fashion, based on clinical research that has been done on people sharing a similar profile, but if you just look at it at the molecular level, no two people are the same."

He highlighted that the integration of large datasets from radiology, pathology, molecular diagnostics, and clinical records will allow healthcare providers to tailor treatments to each patient’s unique needs, rather than relying solely on generalized protocols.

Dr. Hammoud described how similar principles are being applied to education, moving away from standardized teaching models and toward personalized learning pathways. She stated,

"We’re moving from one size fits all to just-in-time, just for you learning."

They described a future where care delivery and educational strategies are increasingly tailored to meet the specific needs of individuals.

Final Thoughts: Connecting Back to NAAMA NextGen

Listening to Dr. Hammoud and Dr. Baba throughout this discussion made it clear that technology is reshaping healthcare and education,  but the heart of the work will always be about people.

One moment that stood out to me was when Dr. Hammoud said,

"Technology should free us up to connect more — not less — with our learners, our patients, and each other."

This idea really captured the spirit of the session. Even as AI, digital platforms, and data-driven tools become more integrated into medicine, our responsibility as future healthcare professionals will be to use them thoughtfully, to strengthen, not replace, human relationships.

Moderating this conversation was a meaningful reminder of the kind of leader I hope to be: someone who embraces innovation, stays grounded in strong clinical reasoning, and never loses sight of the human connection at the center of care.

For NAAMA NextGen members, this session was a call to step into that future with curiosity, responsibility, and compassion. I’m grateful to Dr. Hammoud and Dr. Baba for sharing their experiences and perspectives, and I’m excited to see how all of us in the NAAMA NextGen community will help shape the future of healthcare together through the use of technology.