Surgeons in Rwanda say they are open to incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their practice, but insist it will be used as just another tool in their kit rather than a substitute for expertise.

Speaking to The New Times, Professor Faustin Ntirenganya, President of the Rwanda Surgical Society, pointed out that AI is already important in healthcare, especially in diagnostics, but it should be used with careful supervision to ensure it benefits patients without compromising safety.

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"Responsibility is always on the surgeon. You can&039;t say, ‘AI told me to do this.’ No way. It's always the surgeon's responsibility, just like when I use a knife. I can't say the knife made me cut here," he said.

The use of AI is still in its early stages in Rwanda’s medical sector, where it is partly used in some diagnostics. For example, in radiology, specific technologies are being used to support doctors in interpreting images and detecting diseases.

Professor Ntirenganya says AI has "very big potential” and people have a lot of expectations of it.” However, he noted that, at the end of the day, it remains a tool and it is not replacing surgeons.

"It is just there to help them to do well what they normally do, or probably to be faster,” he pointed out.

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Globally, AI tools are being tested in health sectors, mostly in diagnostics. For example, in England, AI is helping to reduce wait times for cataract surgeries. An AI-driven system called Dora, developed in Oxford, contacts patients to ask questions and determine who needs to see a clinician. This has reduced waiting times from 35 weeks in January 2024 to under 10 weeks by 2025.

Ntirenganya noted that surgeons are generally open to technological changes, as the history of surgery has always involved evolving tools and techniques. However, he said they are also conservative and careful to evaluate new things to ensure that they add real value.

Using AI behind the scenes

One of the key concerns for medics is how patients will perceive the use of AI in medical procedures.

For now, healthcare professionals insist AI should not be directly presented to the patients; but rather, it should be used behind the scenes, much like other tools in laboratories.

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Allyn Auslander, associate vice president of research at Operation Smile, also had a similar argument, in an interview with The New Times. She pointed out that for now, medical AI is a tool for healthcare providers, not for patients and it should be used behind the scenes by the physician to do their job better.

She gave examples of processes that always happen behind the scenes in diagnostics. These include the counting of white blood cells which takes place in laboratories.

"The patient never sees that. What the patient gets back is what that diagnosis is, based on those counts. The patient interacts with the doctor, but the patient isn't sitting there while the doctor writes their notes,” she noted.

Dr. Papa Kwesi Fiifi-Yankson, a Ghanaian plastic surgeon and lecturer, says surgeons are constantly developing and trying to see how they can leverage technological advancements.

"AI can help a lot with regards to simulations, so that it creates a virtual reality where students, residents and trainees can practice and sharpen their skills,” he noted.

Tech advancements are also expected to play a role in improving access to surgical services, as the country not only faces a shortage of surgeons, but support staff and infrastructure too.

With such challenges, there have been delays in surgeries, with some patients waiting for many months before they can get the necessary surgical procedures.

In total, Rwanda currently has 162 surgeons. However, to meet international standards, the country should have approximately 1,400.

In addition to the workforce shortages, surgical theatres are also inadequate. Rwanda has only about 0.9 surgical theatres per 100,000 people, which is far below the recommended 6.2 theatres per 100,000.

The distribution of surgeons is also uneven across the country, as 46 percent of the surgeons work in tertiary hospitals, while 28 percent are in private hospitals, meaning the majority are concentrated in Kigali.