Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42310710›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2026

Adoption of artificial intelligence tools among pharmacy students in Syria: patterns of use, educational perceptions, and institutional barriers.

Muaaz Alajlani, Afraa Alnokkari, Loai Aljerf

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Muaaz AlajlaniFaculty of Pharmacy, Arab International University, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic. muaaz.alajlani@aiu.edu.sy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9087-6863
Afraa AlnokkariFaculty of Pharmacy, Arab International University, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-3286-1366
Loai AljerfDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Damascus University, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1132-9659

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundArtificial intelligence tools are reshaping global higher education, yet their deployment and systemic implications within resource-constrained, conflict-affected settings remain poorly characterized. This study examined artificial intelligence adoption prevalence, usage patterns, perceived educational benefits, self-reported usability, attitudes, social norms, and institutional support structures among undergraduate pharmacy students in Syria.

methodsA cross-sectional survey was administered between January and February 2026 to 295 pharmacy students across multiple private and public Syrian universities. Data collection utilised a five-construct psychometric instrument. To enhance analytical depth, independent-samples t-tests, one-way Analysis of Variance with post-hoc Tukey's tests, and multiple linear regression modelling were applied to evaluate variations across student subgroups and determine relational dependencies.

resultsOverall, 86.8% of participants utilised artificial intelligence tools for academic purposes, with ChatGPT emerging as the dominant platform (96.5%). Core academic use cases included concept explanation (83.2%), drug information retrieval (70.3%), and practice question generation (57.0%). While students reported positive perceived educational benefits (mean = 3.60/5.00) and favourable learning attitudes (mean = 3.66/5.00), institutional support was critically deficient (mean = 1.55/5.00). Formal institutional guidance (93.6%) and training (95.3%) were virtually absent, forcing 95.9% of students to rely entirely on self-directed learning. Inferential analysis revealed significant variations by curricular seniority; fifth-year students demonstrated higher artificial intelligence self-efficacy and usability scores than junior counterparts (P < 0.001). Construct perceptions did not vary significantly by gender, though private university students reported higher institutional support than public university peers (P = 0.036).

conclusionsSyrian pharmacy students have autonomously integrated artificial intelligence into their academic routines at rates comparable to high-income settings, yet they do so in the complete absence of institutional scaffolding. The co-occurrence of high adoption and positive attitudes alongside deficient critical verification skills exposes a distinct risk profile: students may develop misplaced confidence in automated pharmacological outputs without possessing the evaluative competencies to intercept factual errors. This pattern demands urgent curricular interventions across low- and middle-income countries.

Indexed as

Artificial IntelligenceEducation, PharmacyStudents, PharmacyAcademiaAdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleSurveys and QuestionnairesSyriaYoung AdultArtificial intelligenceClinical reasoningConflict-affected settingDigital healthEducational technologyInformation verificationInstitutional governancePharmacy curriculumPharmacy educationTechnology acceptance

Identifiers

PMID42310710
PMCPMC13508235

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.