Scared of AI? You’re Not Alone — And That’s a Good Place to Start
AI often gets marketed as magical — or menacing. That kind of framing leaves many physicians skeptical, overwhelmed, or frozen. But in Offcall’s recent webinar on AI for Clinicians, both Dr. Graham Walker and Dr. Sarah Gebauer addressed this unease directly.
"Honestly, it was kind of scary when I first started looking at it," Walker shared candidly. "I was worried AI was going to replace doctors. And then I realized: we have to be at the table." [Watch at 00:04:25].
The Physician’s Charter for Responsible AI
Dr. Walker and Dr. Gebauer co-created a white paper called the Physicians’ Charter for Responsible AI which offers a simple but powerful northstar: technology should serve the patient-clinician relationship, not replace it.
"There have been so many fearmongering headlines," Gebauer added. "We want to keep the doctor-patient relationship at the center." [Watch at 00:04:43].
AI Isn’t Coming for Your Job — But It Might Help You Do It Better
Rather than seeing AI as a competitor, the speakers encouraged clinicians to view it as a co-pilot. Think of it like an experienced scribe, a savvy assistant, or a quick calculator.
"We want to give people clinical pearls about AI," said Gebauer. "What do you really need to know? What tools are actually helpful? How do you start using them today?"
The First Step: Try Something Low-Stakes
The webinar included a starter list of free and vetted tools (see below), along with real-world prompts to begin experimenting. One of the simplest: Feed a discharge summary into an AI model and ask it to rewrite it at a 6th-grade reading level.
"If you're intimidated, that's normal. But the best antidote to fear is curiosity," said Walker.
Ready to Get Started? Download Graham and Sarah’s curated guide to try these tools for yourself — no technical background required.
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