The International Baccalaureate (IB) results for the Diploma Program and Career-related Program were released on July 6, 2025. According to the IB website, more than 202,000 students worldwide received their results for the May 2025 exams. Many of these students have already applied for and been accepted to university programs of their choice. Some will enrol later this year or early next year based on their results. Some have already decided to take a Gap Year – a year off from formal study to figure out what they want to study or do next. Some of those on Gap Year took up jobs over the summer and are taking short courses to explore new work skills – the idea is to work different jobs, study different short skill-courses and by the end of the year have a better idea about if and what they want to study.https://biodiversityweek.ie/
The concept of the Gap Year emerged in the 1960s in United Kingdom but gained limited formal recognition from educational institutions from the 1970s, eventually becoming an accepted formal part of admissions in UK universities. The concept spread to other parts of the world 1990s onwards but it was during COVID19 that it really picked up mainstream momentum. The primary concept is about self-development, improving understanding of how the world works, becoming independent, and arriving at a broader direction of study and work for their next few years. During the gap year, students travel and backpack, volunteer in social or development organisations, work different jobs or internships, study short courses and undertake projects of personal interest.https://dpmis.dost.gov.ph/
My network of students in the 18-21 age group keeps expanding every year. This year there are more than 30 students I know who are preparing to join university. Some are taking gap years. Some are very sure about what they have chosen as their undergrad subjects. I also know many (more than a 100) in the 21-25 age group and what is interesting is that a number of them either changed their majors after the first year, or at Masters level and a few actually just changed their career path to something completely different.
Past few weeks I have been talking to different sets of parents and students and some are attributing such changes of subjects or majors to the emergence of AI. Or rather the (perceived) disappearance of jobs on account of AI. The deeper concern they articulate is that certain bodies of knowledge and related skills may no longer be required, so why pursue the study. Some families that were planning medical studies mentioned knowing of or reading about students who did their 4 years of pre-med and then decided not to study medicine. They were also affected by news and online content that talk about robotic surgery and the impression that doctors may not be required in as many numbers in the future.
Are such concerns valid? Let us take medical sciences, think about these questions and see if can figure out what is true, what could be true, and what is false.
Growth in Employment in Healthcare
Let’s start with the number of medical professionals to see if there is any decline. As a case in point, I focused on the USA since there is published government and non-government statistics available over the past few decades. Here are some figures from the Federation of State Medical Boards regarding the number of licensed physicians in the USA and District of Columbia.
| Professionals | 2010 | 2020 | 2022 | 2025 (Estimated) |
| Licensed Physicians | 850,085 | 1,018,776 | 1,044,734 | 1,100,000 |
In the 10 years from 2010 to 2020, there was a 23% increase in the number of licensed physicians. In the two years from 2020-2022 there was a further increase of 2.5%. In 2025, the number of licensed physicians is expected to touch 1.1 million, which will be an increase of 5.2% from the figures of 2022. Clearly, number of doctors is increasing, not decreasing.
If we look at the data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics USA there is a clear projection of growth in healthcare jobs for the 2023-2033 forecast period.
| Profession | 2023 | 2033 | Growth | Growth (%) |
| Dentists | 160,600 | 167,900 | 7,300 | 5 |
| Dietitians & Nutritionists | 81,300 | 87,300 | 6,000 | 7 |
| Optometrists | 49,300 | 53,600 | 4,300 | 9 |
| Registered Nurses | 3,300,100 | 3,497,300 | 197,200 | 6 |
| Clinical Laboratory Technologists & Technicians | 344,200 | 362,500 | 18,200 | 5 |
| EMT Paramedics | 270,400 | 286,600 | 16,200 | 6 |
AI and Robot Assistants are not independent but surgeon controlled
In news and content sites, it is easier to find indirect statements that give the impression that surgeries are rapidly being taken over AI. The term ‘robotic surgeries’ is now accepted widely in medical circles but they refer to robot-assisted surgery where surgeons use robotic system during surgery. The robotic systems are not autonomous and the surgeon is always in control. Moreover, robotic systems assist in limited, mechanical aspects of the procedure.
I decided to consult Dr Sandeep Khurana, MD, certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology. He also serves as Professor of Medicine at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Pennsylvania. I wanted to get a feel for the ground reality. “Surgery and for that matter endoscopy (which I do) is a team-based discipline. In all robotic surgeries, procedures, the robot is an assistant, not the main operator. In endoscopy, there are additional people besides myself – a nurse anaesthetist, an endoscopy nurse, and a technician. I don’t see the main operator or for that matter any of the other assistants going away for a long log time, AI or no-AI.”
He sees the benefits of AI within the medical ecosystem. “AI being a language based model is an information transaction system. I expect it to enhance access to right information quickly, improve the quality of information gathered, plug in the information, provide analytics about the information, thus , in theory, improve efficiency and accuracy, and reduce lag times.”
The use of robotic systems as they stand today provide many benefits. In a 2023 bulletin published on the website of the American College of Surgeons, Jim McCartney wrote, “Robotic surgery enables some procedures to be converted from open to laparoscopic, which often means less discomfort, less bleeding, less time in the hospital, and faster recovery periods for patients. For surgeons, robotic surgery may help enhance performance and provide ergonomic benefits, such as enabling the surgeon to sit rather than stand during a long procedure. For hospital systems, robotic surgery can reduce costs through shorter hospital stays and fewer complications, and it may help offset the strains of the hospital workforce shortage.”
Thus there is indication that the medical fraternity is cautiously accepting and incorporating the use of AI and robotic systems into medical procedures after weighing benefits and evaluating technological developments in due course.
Timeframe of technological development
After 40 years of technological development of robotic surgery (1985-2025), it is important note that all procedures still very much involve surgeon-controlled robotic assistance. The surgeon performs the entire operation – the robot is an advanced tool.
Career Planning in the Digital Age
After having reviewed job growth, limitations of AI and Robot Assistants and pace of development, finally let us look at some of the reasons why students change majors or change direction altogether.
At 18 when a young boy or girl makes choices about their graduation, there are many reasons why they pick the subjects the do. Depending on which country or continent they are from, the motivations range from: family opinion, peer choices, personal interest, lack of choice due to grades, availability of scholarships, and so on. For students who are making independent choices (on their own), funding and ease of access is a major reason: often they pick programs and colleges where they get scholarship or they go where their grades take them. In case of students who are making choices under guidance, parental and family expectations play a role. If they have the grades, no external drivers, and get the funding, they may pick programs of their interest at that point in time. But interests change. Circumstances change. Eighteen year olds grow up and by the time they are 21, they mature and are often clearer about what they want to do and why.
I went to college – two of them in fact – and also to university. At 16, 17, and 18 I wanted to study architecture, chemical engineering, physics, statistics and I applied for all those things and didn’t get in for some reason or the other – didn’t have the grades, or didn’t have the portfolio, or was in the waitlist or didn’t clear the college entrance exam. I think I applied to 12 different programs and got into Hotel Management (which wasn’t even on my list of choices), so that’s what I studied. Side by side, I also studied for my Bachelor of Arts in History.
After graduating, I did not join the hospitality industry. I held 9 different jobs over a 4-year period learning many skills and picking up a world of experience. Along the way I also completed my Masters in History. During the ages of 18-25, I learned how to be a good waiter, how to be a good cook, how to manage a restaurant, how to make and sell cotton, fabrics, events, how to make ice cream and run parlours how to create good advertisements, how to write a business plan that will work, how to research in social sciences. Lots of stuff. After studying and working those few years, I realised I wanted to become a writer, but there were no courses to become a writer, so applied for a postgraduate program in communication and journalism and while doing the course, I got a job in a newspaper working evenings.
Graduation studies are about understanding yourself, understanding how the world works, if you are in a professional study program you learn some skills. Working allows you to learn the details of how to apply your knowledge and skills in different jobs. Whatever you study, you will be picking up more or less similar knowledge, so what matters is that you focus on learning and doing when in college.
I know two students who completed their premedical in the USA last year. At this moment, one of them working in medical research and the other is taking a year off traveling and working. Both had been clear they wanted to become doctors back when they were 18. They may get back to studying medicine or they may pursue a Masters in a related or new field. They did not change their mind because AI is taking over or because they are worried about job prospects. They are simply considering options since they are changing. Just as I did, just as many others have done and will continue doing.
Attributing everything to the emergence of AI is becoming a trend. AI is at a very early stage. It is a tool not a driver. We can use it like we use a car or a bus. Or we can get on with our lives ignoring it for the time being. If we decide to engage, understanding how AI works can help us adapt to the changes in the industries we work in. Skills and knowledge we learned in school get upgraded in college and those get upgraded at Master’s level and after every job. It’s the same with AI. And like with every new technology, using AI as an enabler rather an inhibitor is likely to benefit us.
Career and life planning hasn’t changed because AI has come into the picture. Approach it as you always have or as you want to. Study medicine with your whole being if that’s what you are interested in. Doctors and healthcare professionals are very much in demand and by all projections, the demand will continue to grow.