Co-authors: Muhammad Adriand, Vice President of External Affairs, CIMSA (Center for Indonesian Medical Students’ Activities) Indonesia; Khansa Shafira, Alumni Director, CIMSA (Center for Indonesian Medical Students’ Activities) Indonesia; Sekar Putri Andriani, MD, Transform Health Youth Council
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Indonesia is entering a new era of digital health transformation, driven by rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), electronic medical records, telemedicine, and the nationwide integration of the SATUSEHAT platform. While these technologies offer unprecedented opportunities to improve healthcare access and quality, the readiness of future healthcare professionals remains a critical concern. The integration of AI and digital health competencies into medical education has not kept pace with technological development, creating a gap between workforce preparation and healthcare needs.
Recent evidence suggests that Indonesian medical students are aware of AI and its potential applications in healthcare, yet formal exposure to AI-related education remains limited. A study among medical students at Universitas Pelita Harapan found that although most students possessed basic knowledge of AI, dedicated AI courses were not yet incorporated into the curriculum. Similarly, a national survey of pediatric residents and educators from multiple Indonesian universities reported that fewer than 1% of higher education institutions offered medical informatics courses, highlighting a significant educational deficit.
The growing importance of digital health requires healthcare professionals to develop strong digital health literacy. In modern clinical practice, this competency extends beyond operating digital systems; healthcare professionals must be equipped to critically assess algorithm-generated outputs, recognise biases, and determine whether AI-generated content recommendations are clinically appropriate and safe for patient care.
SATUSEHAT integration, a national mandate, emphasises the urgency of health literacy. Current training often limits digital literacy to administrative work, turning doctors into operators who input data into Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. However, SATUSEHAT lays the groundwork for advanced big data analytics and AI-driven diagnostic tools. This evolution requires a comprehensive understanding of health data governance, which legally and structurally dictates how health data is collected, stored, shared, and used ethically. Clinicians must possess the analytical literacy to interpret aggregate data trends for public health interventions while simultaneously understanding how to safeguard patient data privacy against cybersecurity threats. Future doctors must be equipped to critically evaluate and audit the AI algorithms that will increasingly operate within the SATUSEHAT digital health ecosystem.
In response to this need, Transform Health Indonesia in 2023 developed and piloted an integrated digital health curriculum for public health, nursing, and medical students. The pilot reached 1,239 students across 26 institutions. According to internal data, the pilot resulted in an increase in digital health literacy, particularly in data management, privacy, and interoperability.
Following the pilot, the curriculum was refined through a multi-stakeholder consultation, ensuring alignment with national and global standards. The Association of Public Health Higher Education Institutions (AIPTKMI), representing over 180 institutions, has committed to a nationwide rollout by the end of 2025. The Ministry of Health has also provided in-principle approval to integrate the curriculum into mandatory public health education.
Such competencies are increasingly necessary because AI systems are not infallible. Large language models (LLMs), despite their impressive performance, are susceptible to “hallucinations”, generating inaccurate or entirely fabricated information presented in a convincing manner [3]. Without adequate training, healthcare professionals may struggle to identify these inaccuracies, potentially contributing to the spread of medical misinformation.
Despite these challenges, the WHO recognises the immense potential of AI to revolutionize health and address pressing challenges, such as skilled workforce gaps and resource limitations. The Association of American Medical Colleges has also emphasised the importance of responsible AI integration through principles such as transparency, ethical health governance, continuous evaluation, and human-centered implementation [4]. Therefore, Indonesian educators and residents have expressed support for standardised AI curricula and enhanced data-sharing infrastructures, indicating a positive attitude toward digital transformation.
These emerging commitments create a strong foundation, but turning aspiration into impact now hinges on how effectively young healthcare professionals step into their evolving roles within an AI‑enabled health system:
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- First, they should practice “algorithmic skepticism” in their daily clinical routines by interrogating AI outputs for hidden biases and hallucinations rather than blindly accepting automated recommendations.
- Second, they should dismantle health misinformation by utilising social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and community networks to translate complex medical topics into engaging, evidence-based public health messaging before it compromises patients’ health.
- Finally, youth must become proactive advocates for change within their own communities. By fostering multidisciplinary collaboration between healthcare experts and digital content creators, young professionals can effectively disseminate accurate health information to the public. Furthermore, they must empower other healthcare professionals and workers by curating grassroots medical informatics training and peer-led digital literacy forums.
Ultimately, the future of digital health in Indonesia will depend not only on technological innovation but also on the preparedness of its healthcare workforce. Medical schools must incorporate AI literacy, health data governance, digital health competencies, and ethical reasoning into their curriculum to ensure graduates can utilise emerging technologies safely and effectively. By equipping young healthcare professionals with these skills, Indonesia can foster a generation capable of leading a responsible, equitable, and patient-centered digital health transformation.
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About Transform Health
Transform Health is a global coalition of 230+ organisations across 65 countries, convening stakeholders and working with governments and institutions, to ensure this happens so that digital health transformation works for the people who need it most.
Transform Health has been working in Indonesia since 2021. The national coalition was first coordinated by IAKMI. In its earlier phase, the coalition focused on institutionalising digital health education across the country – a systemic intervention that addresses one of the most persistent barriers to digital health transformation: a trained and capable workforce. Its flagship achievement was the successful development and piloting of the first national digital health curriculum across 26 institutions, reaching 1,239 students. This curriculum has now been formally integrated into higher education in Indonesia, building the foundation for a generation of digital health practitioners. The coalition has since entered a new phase, now coordinated by CISDI, with a refreshed set of key objectives.