Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a technological promise projected into the distant future. It is among us and is transforming the way we diagnose, treat, and manage resources in healthcare systems. This is not science fiction or a laboratory experiment, but realities that patients and professionals experience daily: algorithms that help detect diseases in earlier stages, systems capable of predicting healthcare demand, or tools that give professionals precious minutes back for human interaction with the patient.
In this context, AI training cannot be understood as a voluntary option or a decorative add-on. It is, quite simply, a strategic imperative. The recent AI Health Fundamentals initiative, driven by Founderz and Microsoft, confirms this clearly: the healthcare of the future will be unthinkable without solid competencies in artificial intelligence, digital ethics, and data management. The Canary Islands, which have already demonstrated their ability to be at the forefront on other occasions when they decisively commit to innovation, cannot be left out of this process.
From the Ministry of Health, through the School of Health and Social Services of the Canary Islands (Essscan), we assume that our mission is much more than offering courses. Our work consists of accompanying professionals and institutions in this complex transition. We want to offer training pathways that range from basic digital literacy to advanced programs for specialized profiles, and to do so always from an ethical, responsible perspective adapted to our island reality. The Essscan must be a guide, a guarantor, and also a laboratory of innovation, with a training proposal that dialogues with our regulations and that has Canary Islands patients at its center
Not investing in this training would mean widening the technological gap with respect to other health systems, leaving us solely as users of models designed outside our context, and consequently, losing autonomy. On the contrary, investing in training allows us to guarantee safety and confidence, understand the risks and biases that can accompany AI, and anticipate resource management challenges, from bed planning to the availability of medicines or personnel. Furthermore, it opens the door for us to generate local innovation: attract talent, drive projects from our islands, and contribute our own solutions to major global health challenges.
We can imagine a future where doctors work with intelligent assistants that support their decision-making and free up their time for human interaction; where predictive models prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed during critical seasons; where continuous monitoring of chronic patients alerts them in time to a worsening condition before hospitalization is necessary; or where health data generated in the Canary Islands forms the basis for cutting-edge research projects, developed under the strictest ethical and privacy standards. That future is not a utopia: it is within our reach if we take the decisive step today of considering artificial intelligence training as a transversal competency for all our healthcare professionals
AI will not replace human talent. But it can amplify it, multiplying its reach and impact wherever vision and preparation exist. Essscan is ready to lead that path in the Canary Islands. Now, what we need is for professionals, institutions, and citizens to embrace this historic opportunity. Because the future of healthcare, far from being improvised, is built, planned, and led.
