Surgeon and healthcare technology innovator Professor Shafi Ahmed has launched a new global AI platform designed to change how surgeons learn, develop and navigate their careers.
Surgeon.AI brings surgical education, career development and personalised learning into a single AI-powered platform designed to support surgeons from medical school and training through to consultant or attending level.
At the centre of the platform is ELLA – the Education, Learning and Language Agent, an AI educational companion built specifically for surgical learners.
Launching alongside ELLA is the Surgical Acumen Index (SAI), a proprietary AI-driven algorithm designed to track how an individual’s surgical knowledge and capabilities develop over time.
The ambition is to use artificial intelligence to make high-quality, personalised surgical education more accessible to surgeons around the world.
Professor Ahmed said:
“Talent is distributed globally. Opportunity is not.
“Surgical education has traditionally depended heavily on where you train, who teaches you and the opportunities available to you.
“With Surgeon.AI, we want to create an intelligent companion that supports surgeons throughout their careers, understands their development and helps identify what they need to learn next.
“Our ambition is to give every aspiring surgeon, wherever they are in the world, greater access to exceptional surgical education.”
ELLA supports personalised learning, questioning, explanations and reflection, alongside three connected systems:
• SurgeonOS – an intelligent learning environment covering surgical knowledge, examination preparation, interactive clinical learning and professional development.
• SurgeonGPS – a career and development navigation system helping surgeons understand where they are in their professional journey and what they should focus on next.
• SurgeonIE – an intelligence engine connecting surgeons with a wider ecosystem of education, mentorship, opportunities, innovation and collaboration.
Together, they are designed to create a learning environment that becomes increasingly personalised as an individual progresses through their surgical career.
The Surgical Acumen Index has been developed to provide an evolving picture of a surgeon’s learning and development.
Rather than measuring progress solely through examination results or completed courses, the SAI tracks development across six areas: knowledge, clinical reasoning, decision making, operative understanding, evidence-based practice and professional practice.
As surgeons use the platform, the index is designed to evolve with them, helping identify strengths, potential gaps and areas for further learning.
The SAI is an educational and developmental tool and is not intended to replace formal examinations, competency assessments, professional accreditation or clinical credentialing.
The initial focus of Surgeon.AI includes surgical trainees and examination preparation, with plans to expand across surgical specialties, examinations, training systems and countries.
The longer-term ambition is to support surgeons throughout their careers, from training and examinations through to specialist development and lifelong learning.
Professor Ahmed added:
“I have spent much of my career exploring how technology can make surgical education more accessible, from livestreaming operations and virtual reality to immersive technology and now artificial intelligence.
“This isn't about replacing surgical trainers, mentorship or clinical experience. It is about augmenting them and extending access to educational support beyond an individual hospital, institution or country.
“Surgeon.AI has been built by surgeons, for surgeons, with education at its heart.”
Professor Ahmed officially unveiled Surgeon.AI in Galway while delivering the Sir Peter Freyer Memorial Lecture, “INTELLIGENT: The Evolution of AI Transforming Healthcare”, examining the development of artificial intelligence in medicine and its implications for healthcare professionals, patients, education and health systems.
