Jamie K. Elliott, MPA
Executive Administrator
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Vu Q. C. Nguyen, MD
Robert B. Kyle Endowed Professor and Chair
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Tracy Brewer, BS
Administrative Director
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Lisa A. Long, BS
Administrative Manager
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Large language models (LLMs) or Artificial Intelligence (AI) are becoming more utilized. Common LLMs are OpenAI’s GPT1 used in Microsoft’s Copilot2, and Google’s Gemini3. Zoom, a commonly used communication application, has recently introduced AI to summarize meetings. With progressive workforce shortages4,5, academic leaders search for options to lessen workflow burdens for faculty and staff. This report identifies effective utilization of AI to decrease administrative burden in a large PM&R department. 3https://gemini.google.com/app 4GlobalData Plc. The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections From 2021 to 2036. Washington, DC: AAMC; 2024 5Nursing Shortage Projected to Be Worse By State in 2030 (nurse.org)
Design:
We surveyed and matched leaders’ daily functional needs with available LLM functionality. Utilizing Zoom, we hosted one-hour recording sessions on various administrative duties and functions from topic experts. Zoom AI summarized the recordings. We then used AI to condense and organize the job titles, duties, responsibilities, and scope of function.
Results:
With AI, we created work pathways for all processes in the department. On average, we took a one-hour recording, 45-page transcript and created a 5-page job description. This allows the education and onboarding of staff via asynchronous modules. This eliminated leaders’ time burden required to onboard new hires. It decreased variability in the education as employees are educated similarly. It mitigated errors in the department’s processes.
Conclusions:
We outlined an effective way AI can be utilized to increase workforce efficiency in a large academic department. AI increased training precision for our employees and eliminated hundreds of work hours previously dedicated to teaching. We are also utilizing LLMs to help plan retreats, redesign candidate evaluations, help set action items for strategic planning, and overall training of faculty and staff on changing technologies.
