RCSI and Microsoft launch free AI in Healthcare CPD course for health professionals

RCSI launches free AI in Healthcare course for Irish health professionals

12 September 2025

The Graduate School of Healthcare Management at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has launched a free online AI in Healthcare course in partnership with Microsoft. Announced at the WHX Tech conference in Dubai, the programme features a lifelike AI-powered avatar of Dr John Sheehan, consultant radiologist and health tech innovator. RCSI's regional hub in Dubai hosted the keynote reveal.

The course is built for clinicians, managers, administrators and allied health professionals who want practical ways to apply AI in clinical and non-clinical settings. No prior AI experience is required.

"AI isn't replacing clinicians - it's amplifying our capabilities and allowing us to focus on the human elements of care," said Dr Sheehan. "The rapid evolution of AI creates an urgent need for safe, ethical and effective adoption that supports clinicians, patients, and health systems. Here are four things that everyone, from senior professionals to patients, would agree we need: safer clinical decision-making, smarter resource allocation, more compassionate patient care and enhanced professional development.

"How can we use AI to achieve these shared goals? Solutions are already available, and this course is an important milestone on that journey for newcomers and experienced professionals alike."

Who should take this course

• Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and allied health professionals
• Service managers, operations leads, and hospital administrators
• Quality, safety, and governance teams
• Digital health and transformation staff

What you'll learn

• Core concepts and applications
• Ethics, safety & governance
• Clinical applications
• Administrative applications

Why this matters for healthcare

• Stronger clinical decision support with clear guardrails
• Better resource allocation across services and pathways
• More time for patient interaction through workflow improvements
• Structured CPD that keeps skills current

RCSI Chief Technology Officer Justin Ralph said: "Not a day goes by without new claims for the potential of AI being made, but at RCSI we are in a proven position to lead on the subject and separate reality from hype.

"The delivery of world-leading postgraduate education on a state-of-the-art online learning platform is a central to RCSI's strategy, and this ground-breaking collaboration with Microsoft is another step forward in what we call 'mission-driven education'. As part of RCSI's aim to democratise healthcare learning, our new AI in Healthcare CPD course will reduce barriers to advanced medical education and help build a global community of practice."

Access the course

The AI in Healthcare course is available now on the RCSI website. Learn more and enroll here: RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.

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If you're mapping AI skills to specific healthcare roles, explore curated training by job category: Complete AI Training - Courses by Job.