FEATURE: Better Eat Well — Your Future Doctors Are Using ChatGPT to Pass Exams

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 By Victor Olubiye 


In the lecture halls of Nigeria’s medical and health institutions, a quiet revolution is underway — not in the laboratories or operating theatres, but on smartphones, laptops, and AI chat windows. Increasingly, student doctors are turning to tools like ChatGPT to prepare for — and sometimes cheat in — their examinations. While artificial intelligence has opened new frontiers in learning, educators, students, and health professionals alike are raising a red flag: Are we training a generation of doctors who don’t truly understand medicine?

At first glance, using AI-powered tools like ChatGPT for academic assistance may seem harmless — even innovative. After all, the future of healthcare is undeniably intertwined with technology. But as reports grow of students using these tools not just for study but to bypass learning altogether, the issue has become a ticking time bomb in Nigeria’s already strained medical education system.

“You had better eat good food,” warns Mr. Adewumi, a lecturer at Osun State Polytechnic, Iree. “Because your future doctors are using ChatGPT to pass exams.”

His words, tinged with frustration and fear, are echoed by concerned educators across the country who now find themselves playing catch-up in a fast-changing digital landscape.

While some students use ChatGPT to simplify complex topics or simulate quizzes, others admit to more troubling practices. With take-home tests and online assessments becoming common — especially post-COVID — AI chatbots are often used to generate instant answers. In more extreme cases, students copy AI-generated essays word-for-word for coursework and even examination scripts.

“It’s everywhere now,” said Adeyemi Toheeb, Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Mass Communication Students (NAMACOS), Osun State Polytechnic, Iree (2024/2025). “How can you expect students to be employed when what made them pass their exams is ChatGPT? How will they prove their results?”

His concern touches on a deeper crisis — the credibility of academic qualifications. If a medical student earns a degree through shortcuts, what does that mean for the safety of patients they may one day treat?

Nigeria’s healthcare system already suffers from a deficit of trust, infrastructure, and personnel. Now, the rise of AI-enabled academic fraud could add another layer of vulnerability. The idea that a doctor might diagnose or treat a patient without truly understanding basic medical principles is a nightmare scenario — not only for patients, but for the credibility of the profession.

In a country where the doctor-to-patient ratio is already below WHO recommendations, Nigeria cannot afford to have half-baked professionals entering the field.

Worse still, the ripple effects go beyond healthcare. If AI misuse becomes normalized among medical students, it sets a dangerous precedent for other fields — engineering, law, journalism — where integrity and competence are non-negotiable.

At the root of the issue is a cocktail of academic pressure, lack of preparedness, poor learning environments, and the illusion of digital convenience.

“Many students aren’t lazy — they’re overwhelmed,” said a Secondary School Teacher who asked to remain anonymous. “They’re juggling underfunded labs, outdated textbooks, and overcrowded classes. When something like ChatGPT offers quick answers, it’s a tempting escape.”

Some also blame the education system itself for failing to adapt quickly. Many lecturers still rely on rote memorization and manual testing methods, making AI-aided cheating hard to detect — and easy to exploit.

The rise of AI use in medical education is not unique to Nigeria, but the country’s fragile infrastructure and regulatory gaps make it especially vulnerable to its abuse. If institutions don’t act quickly, the nation may find itself producing doctors who are confident in front of a chatbot but clueless in a real hospital ward.

Already, some universities abroad have introduced AI-detection tools and proctored online exams to mitigate misuse. Nigeria, however, lags behind — with most institutions yet to develop clear AI usage policies.

ChatGPT is not the enemy. Like any tool, its impact depends on how it is used. For Nigerian students, especially those training to become doctors, the stakes are higher than ever. The lure of quick success must not come at the cost of public trust, human lives, or the nation’s future.

Until this issue is addressed with the seriousness it deserves, Mr. Adewumi’s chilling warning may prove prophetic — we may soon need to eat well and pray harder, because our future health may be in the hands of doctors trained by machines, not medicine.



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